Haphazard Circumstances
by SmolDust
Summary: Two worlds connected by various coincidences. Long term fic, multiple arcs planned out, a ton of pairings, drama/adventure/romance/humor, a few OCs here and there. Chapter 5: Tensions rise as Kairi is attacked and Shirley learns about the Zero Requiem. Meanwhile, Axel learns that he has been kept in the dark about a lot. ((Reviews welcome!))
1. Melancholy

**Haphazard Circumstances**

The chaos of second semester starting was nothing more than just a bunch of 17-21 year olds bustling around Twilight Town, moving dorms, collecting last minute supplies, and enjoying the last few moments of freedom. About a 15 minute walk away from the school sits one apartment building in particular, with a new dorm suite atop an apartment not owned by the school. It had newly been built as the student population to student living away from home ratio started to increase.

Keys dangling in hand, the first student had arrived to move in. She unlocked the burgundy door that lead inside, then climbed the stairs to the student apartment. Entering the apartment with her few belongings, she hung the keys up on one of the hooks next to the door. This particular student apartment was a six bedroom with a common kitchen, bathroom, and living room. The apartment was pre-furnished and the first student couldn't help but wonder just how much money circulated the school and it's community.

She glanced at the mirror that hung on the wall of the entryway, grumbling at her slightly disheveled appearance. The humidity lately had caused her normally straight, dirty blonde hair to have awkward waves. She finger combed through her bangs that were parted to the right of her face. She brushed back the layers that framed her face, continuing to brush through her hair that stopped a few inches below her shoulder blades.

After claiming her room, she wandered back out into the living room, noticing the agreement form on the table. Skimming through it, she quickly signed under her printed name: _Asher_ _Ives._ Just as she finished signing the form, the door swung open and in walked three of Asher's classmates: Sora Nomura, Kairi Hikari, and Riku Tetsuya.

"Home sweet home!", Sora inspected the apartment, "Pretty spacious, I heard this one's got six bedrooms, though two of them aren't being filled at the moment" Noticing Asher, he grinned "Ayye, I heard from your last roomies that you are a pretty decent roommate"

Asher chuckled, "I try my best. Glad to see you guys are who I'll be sharing a living space with for the rest of this semester". The three were her first friends, and the most welcoming, when she first enrolled at Twilight Town Upper three months ago.

"I think we can say the same, we're glad to see you are doing well. Especially since you were so lost and confused about what seemed like everything" Kairi chimed in. The red-headed girl stood at about an inch shorter than Asher, who was 5'3", and quickly became one of Asher's closest friends in Twilight Town. Asher nodded, "Well, can you blame me? I have no recollection of anything before six months ago." One day she had woken up in an alley next to a bakery, having zero memory of anything prior. It took some adjusting, but the blue eyed 17 year old was doing her best to handle it.

Riku, having just finished filling out his share of the form, turned to the other three and said "Yeah, well maybe we should go with Sora's theory that you're an alien-"

"Hey! You know that I never said that".

"Sora. Kairi and I can't put it past you for the outlandish ideas you come up with," Riku raised an eyebrow at his friend. Kairi giggled in response, "You know he's right".

Sora rolled his eyes, a tint of dusty pink on his cheeks "Whatever. _I_ need to unpack. I'm thinking some pizza later to mourn the loss of our winter vacation" He waltzed over to his room, supposedly to unpack.

Riku elbowed Kairi, "You should go unpack too. Lord knows you have a full closet to unpack, _at least_!". Kairi playfully glared at him, "At least clothes are useful, unlike a whole bin of magazines with pretty girls sitting on cars I'll never be able to buy".

"Kai, its an industry you should look into!"

The redhead scoffed at him as they went to their respective rooms to unpack. Asher decided to procrastinate on her homework and go out for a walk.

Twilight Town was an expansive town, constantly busy before lulling after the sun went down. Shops were starting to close and bars were beginning to thrive, and yet despite all the people meandering, Asher couldn't help but feel she was all alone. Maybe it was a stray of narcissism, maybe she felt lonely, but she couldn't deny that her lack of memories prior to 3 months ago was the cause of her feeling a separation from the rest of the world. The 17 year old strolled to the train station, admiring the clocktower that loomed over her.

In that moment the air felt dense against Asher's face. _This is some freaky deaky vibes all of a sudden... Maybe I'm getting sick and should head home-_ Her thoughts were interrupted when out of no where a black mass appreared. Not even a moment into attempting to comprehend what was occurring, a hooded figure stepped out of what Asher realized must've been some sort of portal.

Her light blue eyes widened, wondering if her school lunch had been laced with an unmentionable. The tall and frail framed figure took his hood down to reveal messy yet tamed red hair. He glanced around, almost frantically, contrasting to his cool demeanor.

"Is Sora here?"

Asher gave the man a confused look, cocking her head slightly, as it took a few moments for her to collect her thoughts, "How do you know Sora?". This man didn't seem like the type of dude Sora would hang around.

"I'll assume that's a no. Let's just say we have a history and I'd like to _catch up_ ", the red haired man sighed, irritation flashing across his face. "Well you must know where he is".

Asher didn't trust him in the slightest, to her he reeked of trouble that was unwanted. "I don't know where he is. Sorry." She lied, "Maybe give him a call? If you have 'history' then you have his number...". The teen started to turn to walk away.

The next thing Asher knew her knees met the ground with a crash and her face was being buried into the brick. "Son of a bi-"

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" The cloaked man hissed, knee pressed into her back just hard enough to keep the teen on the ground.

"Joke's on you, I don't know who my mother is" she snapped back.

"AXEL!"

Asher heard footsteps and then Riku's voice. Turning her head she saw her three roommates bolting over, "We were on our way to pick up dinner and saw you two... Axel let her go, she has nothing to do with..." Riku trailed off.

"With Sora?" Axel finished for him then nodded at the brunette haired boy. "Oh I'm sure she doesn't know him at all. Never met right?"

"Thats not what he meant," Asher snapped from the ground, "What the hell is going on?"

"I'm wondering the same thing", Sora glanced between all of them, Kairi sharing the same puzzled expression as him.

"None of your concern," Axel summoned his chakrams, holding one to Asher's neck, "Though if you come with me then I can explain on the way to our destination."

The warm metal on Asher's neck released a ton of nerves as her and Kairi exchanged frantic looks of fear. _What the hell is going on..._

"No one is going anywhere Axel" Riku took a tentative step towards him, "We met at an impass, things are finally normal for us, please just **go**." The older boy's eyes were pleading, "And don't involve anyone that doesn't need to be involved".

Axel sighed, lifting himself off of Asher, "Fine, I'll just have to bring Sora with by force-" he was interrupted by the petite girl that had just been pinned under him as she tackled him to the ground. "I don't know who you are or what the hell is going on but you can't take any of them with you".

"Asher get off of him, you don't realize what you're dealing with!" Riku exclaimed.

"Then explain!" The dirty blonde glared at her friend, "What the hell is all this he is talking about?!-" At this moment, Axel booted her off of him.

Ignoring Asher's hasty inquiry, Riku tensed his fists as Axel stood, dusting himself off. "Things were finally peaceful, why are you here?"

The tall man sighed, "Stubborn as always... I want my friend back. We need our vessel. You wouldn't understand, underneath that silver mane of yours is a thick skull full of far-fetched thoughts. Maybe if you thought _rationally_ you would understand. But you're stuck in this quaint, perfect, unrealistic world Riku"

Not even a moment after Axel finished his sentence, the silver-haired boy started taking several deliberate steps towards him. He raised his right hand and with a flash of light, a sword in the shape of a wing appeared in his hand. His 3 classmates widened their eyes as Riku stared down Axel, "I'm giving you one last chance. Leave"

"What... What is that in Riku's hand?" Kairi glanced at Sora, who was still staring, mouth slightly agape. "I have no clue Kairi... But hiding whatever this is..."

Asher stood there in bewilderment, ' _I don't understand whats going on... But Riku wants to protect Sora from seemingly someone they know...'_ She looked over at both Sora and Kairi, ' _But they don't seem to have a clue whats going on'_.

Axel chuckled at Riku's demand, "This is getting messy and we haven't even started to fight. My, my, what a day already!" With that, Riku dove to stab Axel, who in turn blocked.

The two combated fervently while the other 3 watched. "Just... What the hell..." Sora ran a hand through his hair. "This is a lot to take in and I STILL don't understand what is going on"

"Dammit!"

Axel held his side after Riku had stabbed a good portion of his torso, "How embarrassing... Having been a few months I'd thought you'd be rustier..." He summoned a portal, just like the one that he appeared from earlier. "I promise you... We will have Sora. And I WILL get my friends back". He stepped into the portal and it vanished.

All was quiet for a few moments before Sora spoke up, "Riku, what was that all about-"

"For your safety, do not ask"

The look Riku gave him made Sora shut up quickly, though he would probably inquiry again later. Maybe use some of that tequila that Hayner gave to them after one of the recent parties and get something out of him.

"We should head back home. Its starting to get dark," Riku turned to Asher, "I'm sorry you had to see all this. You didn't get hurt at all by Axel did you?"

Asher shook her head, "No... I mean he definitely surprised me. But its better that I'm aware of what's going on I suppose, for when he shows up again".

Back at home, they ordered their pizza to mourn the loss of winter break. After dinner, Asher said her good nights, having been worn out by the events of the day. Closing her bedroom door behind her, she had a sudden ache in her forehead. Her vision blurred and the room danced around her. She collapsed as her knees gave out under her. In front of her she saw a few blurred figures, though she assumed the closest ones to her were male by their general shape. They reached out to her and she was inclined to grab hold of their hands. One of the figures faded out and as much as Asher tried, she couldn't reach them until they were completely gone.

Her eyes snapped open and she realized she was sprawled out on her floor, still in her room, alone. "Christ... What was that about?" She took her time sitting up, still feeling slightly light headed. Crawling over to her bed, she flopped down, quickly lulling to sleep.

Elsewhere

Rain lightly tapped Twilight Town in the early morning hours, but the air was warm. They were just heavy enough of drops to stir the raven haired man that was currently laying down in an alley. He opened his eyes to be greeted by the sky covered in dark grey clouds. Groaning, he sat up and pinched the bridge of his nose. _This is too much pain to be dead... Did they toss my body in an alley? Sure I did some shitty things but I don't expect this kind of treatment,_ he frowned. Looking down at his clothes, he realized his garb had a giant blood stain but there was merely a scar on his torso. He stood up and walked out of the alley, noting to his left was a bakery with a sign that read "Twilight Town Bakery"

"I suppose wherever I am, its probably called Twilight Town. But one thing is for sure- I, Lelouch vi Brittania, am very much alive"

( _To be continued_ )

 _ **AN:**_ **Ello and thanks for reading! Lelouch will be in the next chapter, hope that I was able to start this fic off well enough to keep your attention. This fic is going to have a lotttttttt of pairings as I am shipping trash. I also plan for a lot of arcs as well.**

 **To give some context without spoilers, this takes place a few months after Dream Drop Distance. Code Geass belongs to Sunrise, Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney, I do not own either, disclaimer here.**

 ***Yes this is actually plot important.**


	2. Heartless

**A/N: Mmmkay I need to say real quick- I had started writing this fic back in 2009. I kid you not. I had the plot and everything all ready to go before an R3 was announced for Code Geass. So basically from the CG side of the story, this convoluted mess of a story, disregard anything past R2. As for the KH side of the story, it takes place remotely soon after Dream Drop Distance.**

Asher didn't mind the school uniforms too much, though she did wish the girls were given the option to wear pants instead of skirts. Being the end of Winter, she did wear her thigh highs to keep warm. Nonetheless, she felt less exposed and less self conscious while wearing pants versus a skirt. While they walked to school, Sora and Riku discussed the upcoming Rugby tryouts. Asher took this opportunity to pull Kairi to the side.

"Can I talk to you about something?" the blue eyed girl glanced at her red-headed friend who nodded in response, "You ever just get that gut-feeling of 'something horrible happened' but you can't explain why?" Kairi nodded, "I think its pretty normal... Maybe you're subconsciously trying to bring back old memories?" When they had met about three months ago, Asher was basically a zombie with no recollection of anything before waking up in the alley next to the bakery. Maybe the lethargy had something to do with the amnesia? Kairi wasn't sure, but she did know that after warming up to Twilight Town, Asher became one of the most energetic people she had ever met. And as if on que...

"CAT!" Asher ran over to the grey spotted feline that she found sun bathing next to the shop they were walking by. "Ash, we need to hurry up or we'll be late!", Riku chided. Asher pouted, "B-but the caaaat", she whined. The cat took this moment to scurry off, hopeful to find somewhere less busy to sun bathe in peace. "Wait no come back!" Asher darted off after him, eager to find the kitty.

"Oh- There she goes! Bye Asher!", Sora waved as she ran off. Riku lightly smack Sora's hand, "Come on, we need to go get her." The trio sprinted after her

Up ahead, Asher was shortening the distance between her and the cat, "I just want to pet you!". If anything, Asher loved animals, but she'd never go to the extent of running after one trying to get away from her. _Maybe I'm fucking nuts, but something about this cat just seems so familiar and it's compelling me to go after him..._ As she pursued the feline, she ran by a purple-eyed passerby; Lelouch, whom had found casual clothes and changed out of his royally blood stained garb. The former rebel stopped immediately and turned around, his gaze following the petite girl.

Asher finally caught up to the cat and scooped him up, "Caught you!". The cat squirmed but Asher refused to let him go.

Her roommates caught up to her, slightly out of breath. "Ash... what the fuck", Riku huffed, "A cat. Ash, _a cat"_

Asher rolled her eyes, "You could have gone on ahead you know..."

"Excuse me", Lelouch approached, "Asher?"

The Twilight Town residents gave the former emperor looks of bewilderment, Asher speaking up, "Uh... thats me! Do I know you?"

Disappointment wavered across Lelouch's face, "It's only been three months, surely you couldn't have forgotten me". Given the circumstances, he couldn't say he was surprised to see his former high school classmate. Though it was weird that she had forgotten him.

"Uhh about that... So I wouldn't take it personally if I were you. I can't exactly remember a lot prior to three months ago", Asher frowned.

Lelouch scoffed, but cracked a rare smile, "Wow, after how everything went down, that is how you greet an old friend?"

Asher stared at the raven-haired boy, both trying to remember him as well as disbelief. "...I guess?"

The former prince paused. She _actually_ had forgotten him. "What about Shirley? Suzaku? Kallen? The Knightmares? Ashford Acade-"

"Dude stop." Riku cut in, which Asher was glad for. None of those names sounded familiar, and she began to feel overwhelmed. The cat in her arms took this moment to leap and prance away. Asher didn't even notice.

 _Wait._

"Shirley Fenette? How do you know her?" Asher raised her eyebrows.

 _So she knows Shirley at least?,_ Lelouch made a mental note of this.

"She was a classmate of mine". Lelouch didn't delve any further. Something was off, and he didn't want to get too into things without having some clarification.

Riku interrupted him before he could continue, "We really need to get to school, class started already" He tugged on Asher's arm. "Come on!"

Asher admitted a familiarity about Lelouch. Honestly she had never met this kid in her life, but something seemed familiar. She felt like she wanted to sit over a cup of coffee and catch up, it was all strange to her. Riku tugged her along, but not before she asked for his name.

"Lelouch"

"Nice to meet you, or as you claim, run into you again" Asher gave a final wave as her and the Twilight Town Academy students made their way quickly to their school.

Once more Lelouch was alone. Any other person may have been completely overwhelmed by staggering thoughts. Given his circumstances, Shirley being here shouldn't have surprised him. He wanted to see her, but needed to figure out what the hell happened to cause them to end up in this world. He remembered every detail of his 'death' (he wasn't sure if he could call it that at this point), but after laying in a pool of his own blood, the next thing he knew was that he was waking up in an alley next to a bakery, very much with a beating heart.

Nothing made sense, and he knew one way or another, he would get to the bottom of this. How difficult would it be? After all, he essentially brought a world power to its knees by relating every damn thing to chess, all while being a mere 18 year old school-boy.

* * *

After a brief lecture by their first period teacher, the four tardy students settled into their seats. Kairi tapped her pencil on the desk, as she sat behind the subject of their chat earlier; Shirley Fenette. Supposedly Lelouch knew her. Kairi mused at the foreign name, noting at the regal vibes he gave off. Joking aside, something seemed really off, but she could not put her finger on it.

Asher sat at the desk next to her. Honestly she felt like her head was going to blow up. First all this stuff with Axel the other day, now some stranger that claims to be an old friend, just so much bullshit she didn't want to deal with. Sure, it sucked not remembering anything before three months ago, but really she couldn't complain. She spent most of her days watching tv, lounging and reading comics while all cozied up in her bed. That's all she wanted to do, none of this that had transpired within the past few days. A nap seemed most bodacious at the moment, but she was already being watched like a hawk from her teacher considering how late they were this morning.

Not sure if it had to do with missing half the class, but first period seemed to fly by. As Asher took her time packing her stuff into her backpack, Sora and Riku waltzed on over to where Kairi was talking with Aerith, a somber look on her face. Aerith's normal expression was radiant and cheerful but the news she brought could not keep her smile.

"You asked where Olette was," both the boys heard Aerith say as they approached the two girls. "She is in the hospital right now, with severe injuries but none are life threatening. Still, I doubt she'll be back in class for a while".

Kairi's eyes widened, "Hold on... what happened to her?"

"Or who" Sora added, just as concerned as Kairi was.

Aerith shook her head as Asher walked over, totally not eavesdropping on their conversation. She didn't talk to Olette much, but it seemed her friends were close with her. "We don't know who. I guess Hayner and Olette were out late last night, and they split off to head home. Hayner ended up turning back, deciding he wanted to walk her home at that hour. But by the time he got there, someone in a cloaked figure had Olette by her throat."

Riku's eyes blazed when Aerith mentioned the cloaked figure. He and his three roommates exchanged brief glances.

"Luckily Hayner managed to scare off this guy, but at that point Olette had bruising around her throat and definitely some minor head injury. Last I heard, she is in stable condition, but hasn't been conscious since last night" Aerith continued.

 _But why would Axel attack Olette?_ Asher frowned. She was sure that the others were thinking the same thing.

"We'll have to visit her." Sora nodded towards Aerith. "Once she wakes up. Bring her some flowers or cookies or some shit."

" _Sora!_ " Kairi gave him a light nudge.

"What?! I haven't visited someone in the hospital before, I only have seen it in movies".

Riku sighed, shaking his head at his spikey haired friend. "What're we gonna do with you... How will you ever survive on your own?"

"Hey! I'd do just fine." Sora crossed his arms in a defiant manner.

* * *

The day pressed on, going by rather quickly. After the last bell of the day, classmates started to disperse in different directions; some heading to clubs, some heading to work, and some heading home. Asher and her roommates had just exited the front gate when they were hailed, "Hey! Hold on a second!"

Asher turned to find Shirley jogging towards them.

"Ash- do you remember me nooooow?"

It was a question Shirley asked every few days, but the answer was always no. She had arrived to Twilight Town a few months before Asher woke up with amnesia, and seemed to want to prod answers out of the shorter girl.

"No... I'm sorry" Asher apologized.

Shirley pouted, "Jeez- why not? Have you been trying?"

Ashers mouth went slightly agape as she set her hands on her hips, "Excuse- dude, what the hell? I'm trying my best here!" She was exasperated. "Maaaaaaybe if you were patient, I might be more apt at remembering something, _Shirley_ ".

Shirley needed her to remember things before three months ago. She had questions and worries, which made the past few months very uncertain for her. Often, she would provoke her with questions, usually ending in bombarding and overwhelming Asher, but never resulting in answers. Every question she asked went way over Asher's head and usually had been forgotten about within the following hour.

"Although... I gotta ask, do you know anyone by the name of... oh fuck, what was his name? It was really unusual..." Asher rubbed the back of her neck, a quizzical look on her face.

"Oh! That guy we ran into this morning! Le... Ladouche? Louis Lou?" Sora matched the expression Asher had on her face.

"Lelouch!" Asher suddenly remembered, "Yeaaahh, Shirley, some guy named Lelouch asked me if I knew you"

Shirley's expression broke out into a hopeful one, "Lelouch is here too?! Where? When did you see him?"

"I'll take that as you do know him" Asher nodded, "That's half the reason we were late, long story short we ran into him this morning", and almost on que, the raven haired boy rounded the corner, standing a few feet behind Shirley. This weirded Asher out, as she had a slight suspicion that he had followed them earlier that day.

"Shirley"

Shirley's eyes widened and didn't take her time turning around to the boy that had said her name. The boy who had been the last person she saw before she 'died'.

"Le... Lelouch!" The tall girl flung her arms around him, too shocked for even tears.

Kairi, Riku, and Sora all exchanged looks with one another. Asher smiled, "Well, I really have no clue what the hell is going on anymore, but we'll leave you guys be" She began to start the trek back to their apartment.

"We'll see you tomorrow Shirley!" Kairi waved as her and Sora and Riku joined Asher.

Lelouch wanted to call out to Asher, there was still so much to discuss, but right here and now was Shirley Fenette. The last time he had seen her, she had bled out from a gunshot wound. She shouldn't even be alive right now, hell he shouldn't either.

"It really is so good to see you" Lelouch held her. "I'm so sorry... I wanted to save you but... I couldn't and I was ridden with guilt. I could have saved you if-"

"Stop it." Shirley pulled out from the embrace. "I don't know how but... I'm here and you're here and it may not be Britannia, but... I'm alive Lelouch. By some strange miracle"

The last time they interacted, Lelouch had the weight of the world on his shoulders. But now they could be normal 18 year olds and just... exist? Lelouch couldn't even think of the right word and for the moment he didn't care. Even so, he didn't want to upset her by bringing up what happened to him and brought him here.

"Honestly, I never thought we would meet again Lelouch. When did you arrive in Twilight Town? How did you get here?" Shirley was stuck between asking what Britannia was like now and asking how he was. It had been about eight months since she was shot by Rolo. Was he even alive? She wished she could turn her brain off, the more she thought about things, the more questions she had.

Lelouch briefly hesitated, "I woke up this morning next to a bakery"

"A bakery?!" Shirley repeated, bewildered. "Eight months ago, I woke up in the alley next to a bakery... That's really strange. And come to think of it, Ash said she had woken up next to the same bakery that I did. But she doesn't remember anything, so why do you and I have all of our memories?"

Lelouch was quiet, unsure how to respond. He was stumped, "I don't know Shirley, but I am determined to get to the bottom of this. I swear. I want to figure this out and get you back home." He knew he wouldn't be able to go home, it would ruin what he and Suzaku had set in place.

"Us" She corrected. "Don't think you're not coming back with me!"

Now wasn't the time for Lelouch to discuss with her what happened after she had been shot. Instead he feigned a smile, "Of course"

* * *

"Hey, I'll meet you guys at home. I have an errand to run" Riku stopped near an intersection.

"An errand? What kind of errands do _you_ run?" Sora raised an eyebrow, giving Riku a quizzical look, as if he could not compute what Riku had just said. The silverette just rolled his eyes.

"And by errands I bet he means meeting up with a girl~" Asher grinned mischievously.

"By errands I mean I need to go talk with Leon." Riku corrected, "He works part time at the armory downtown, so I'm stopping by there".

Sora's eyes twinkled, "I want to see Leon too!" He had quite a bit of admiration for the upperclassman.

"Sora, no, I need to go _alone_." Riku began to walk away from the other three. Kairi furrowed her brow, whispering to the other two, "Have you guys noticed that Riku has been acting extra secretive recently?"

Asher nodded, "Yeah, something is up with that boy."

"He never used to be like this, I don't know what his problem is anymore. He's also been more on edge and snappy." Sora frowned. "I just want to know what's going on with him".

"Well, Riku has never been exactly the most open, but for sure he has been acting more closed off then usual" Kairi sighed. "We should give him space, come on, lets go back to the dorm"

Asher exchanged a look with Sora, both of them matching grins and they began to quickly follow the direction Riku had left in.

"Guys! Ugh..." Kairi chose to follow them as well.

* * *

Riku made his way to where Leon worked and was glad to see that there were zero customers in the shop. He needed to discuss some recent events with the older student. Twilight Town residents were notorious for getting word around fast, so he knew they'd have to stay out of earshot of basically everyone. Leon took notice when he strutted into the shop, the look on his face giving away that he wasn't just here to say hello.

"Riku, what brings you in?"

Riku looked around, double checking to make sure that no one was in the shop, "I'm assuming you heard about what happened with Olette"

"Of course, word spreads fast" Leon nodded.

"Lea... Axel, I guess, showed up out of the blue the other day. I haven't seen him for about a year. That along with the attack on Olette, I'm starting to think we aren't safe anymore", Riku got straight to the point, not missing a beat, "And I don't mean our safety from _them_ "

Leon sighed, "We can call him by his real name, we don't need to call him Axel because he _thinks_ he is still Axel."

"It's just easier and honestly we're probably less likely to come across what we've been trying to avoid if we stick to referring to him as Axel. Which honestly... I'm terrified of that. Sora and Kairi have been able to live normal, easy lives since the incident. I want to keep it that way" Riku knew deep down that the truth couldn't be hidden forever, but he'd be damned if he didn't try first. "I wanted this peace, this normality to last forever. But I don't think that will be the case much longer..."

Sora burst through the door, Asher tumbling after him. As Riku turned, furrowing his brows, he heard Kairi calling out to them as she jogged to the shop door.

"Guys, I said I'd meet you at home, what the hell."

"I tried to stop them! But you know how stubborn they are" Kairi caught her breath, glaring at the two brunettes feigning innocent smiles.

Sora leaned on the counter, "Hey Leon! Hows life? What's the secret thing that Riku came to talk to you about?"

Riku was about to combat the statement when Leon spoke up, "He wanted some sparring practice, just to keep in shape, you know? In fact," he turned to Riku, "We were about to go out back and spar, if you guys want to watch?"

Riku inwardly groaned. Leon could whip his ass any day, and he did not want to be put to shame, but he had no choice if he wanted to keep the secret.

"... For sure"

"Ooooh are we placing bets?" Asher whipped out the one single munny she had in her pocket.

"That's really not a lot to bet with" Kairi noted.

"Killjoy"

"Anyway! I'll go ask my coworker in the back room to come out front while we go out back. Been a while since I put my gunblade up to practice"

* * *

Asher, Sora and Kairi sat on some crates as they watched Riku and Leon spar. Leon combated with his gunblade while Riku wielded his keyblade. The vigor in Riku's movements were a dead giveaway to the stress he was under. The other three still had no idea what was going on, but Sora was determined to figure it out.

"You know, something about how Leon seems so nonchalant about Riku having a keyblade that he can just summon out of mid-air REALLY has me thinking that we are being left out of the loop" Kairi frowned, her phone buzzing as she received a text from Shirley.

Sora nodded, "Once he is done here with Leon, you bet I'll be asking more questions. Or just use his weakness against him."

"Tequila!" Asher cheered.

"He's not the only one..."

Asher glared at Sora but before she could retort, Kairi spoke up, "Shirley texted me. Said that she ended up enrolling Lelouch at our school and he ended up in one of the empty rooms of our apartment. So guess we'll be having a new room mate"

"Oh... well this might be a good thing!" Asher perked up, "Maybe I can figure out why he thinks he knows me? Or if I know him"

Riku and Leon were fairly evenly matched in regards to the essentials of combat; agility, strength, and over all morale. Sora had to wonder what Leon knew that they didn't know. The previous thought of coaxing Riku with Tequila wandered into the spikey haired brunette's mind again. Riku had a tendency to ramble on when he was even slightly buzzed.

Riku landed a strike to Leon's forearm, causing the older boy to wince. He quickly composed himself, countering the silver haired boy. Riku dodged and lunged, sure to land a hit. However, Leon side-stepped, allowing himself to strike a blow behind Riku's knees, which caused him to tumble over.

"Oooh, come on Riku!" Sora half-taunted. "You're better than that"

Riku groaned as he stood up, dusting himself off, "Yeah, I'm well aware, Sora"

"Hey, you did just fine" Leon gave him a nod of approval, "Plus, you're a bit rusty I would imagine. While I'd love to spar more, I need to get back to my shift-"

Their upperclassman was interrupted by being tackled to the ground by a shadowy figure. The others jumped, as it seemed to come out of the shadows themselves. It reached out a claw to scratch Leon, who rolled out of the way.

"A heartless?! Leon this is bad. I didn't think it was this bad" Riku dove at the heartless, taking it out as it dissolved back into the shadows. Two more appeared as Leon stood up, taking a ready stance.

"Heartless?" Asher inquired, taking a few steps back. The two heartless turned towards her. "Uh-uh! You stay over there! Don't even think-" But they were more interested in Kairi at the moment, as they lunged themselves at her.

The red head was frozen in place, aside from when she flung her arms in front of her face.

"KAIRI NO!" Sora shouldered her out of the way, knocking her onto the ground. Asher gasped, watching it all unfold.

There was a flash of light in front of Sora, and suddenly he was holding a Keyblade. The light alone was enough to knock back the heartless.

Kairi looked up, reminding herself to thank Sora later, as well as chastise him for putting himself in danger for her sake... but at the moment, she was too awestruck. He too, just like Riku, had a keyblade.

The heartless came at him, but Sora didn't hesitate. His motions were fluid as he took out one of the heartless, as if he had been in combat for years. The second heartless swung at him, grazing his arm. Sora winced, but didn't falter his stance. He slashed at the shadowy creature, striking it, and it too dispersed into nothingness.

Silence hung over the teens, Kairi and Asher exchanging glances, both giving Riku quizzical looks. Sora's head hung slightly and he made no motion to move from where he stood. Riku gave Leon a sad smile that Kairi and Asher caught. "Huh, would you look at that Sora! You're a natural pro at the Keyblade," He walked over to his best friend, holding out his fist for Sora to bump, "I'm sure you have a ton of questions-"

"Yeah, I do. What the hell Riku? Did you know I could use a Keyblade? You told us only a chosen few were 'worthy' to hold it."

Riku sighed, "Sora, trust me, I wish I could tell you everything right now, but I can not involve you any further-"

"Don't you think I am involved enough as is?!" Sora waved his arms around frantically, swinging the Keyblade for emphasis.

"He brings up a good point" Asher pointed out, grinning slightly. "Also, I'm curious as to what the hell is going on."

"... If I buy us pizza, will you guys PLEASE drop it? At least for today? I'm exhausted," What Riku said wasn't a lie; he was thoroughly exhausted from basically everything going on, not to mention they just started a new semester.

Sora frowned, not at all satisfied with his response, but did not argue. His best friend did seem really stressed out, and though having the ability to wield a Keyblade was really strange to him, he could hold off until further notice to get some answers.

Though there was always the option of Tequila...

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

It was Tuesday, rainy and absolute miserable weather, but it was a Tuesday nonetheless. Suzaku Kururugi had the same routine every Tuesday and this one was no different- he'd visit the local cemetery, pay his respects to the deceased (and unfortunately for the lanky brunette, the number seemed to steadily go up), try to hold back his tears, and head home. Home to continue the bidding of the Brittanian Empire, to serve, as a way to atone for his sins. Or that's what he told himself. It had already been three weeks, making today the third visit where he would pay his respects to his best friend: Lelouch vi Brittania. His best friend was a genius, a mastermind who was always a step (or three) ahead of everyone else. But most of all, he was the most selfless person he ever met, giving his life to create peace among nations.

Giving his life at the hands of Suzaku, and though they repeatedly discussed the plan, Suzaku would never forgive himself for going through with it. He knew he would never be the same.

It is said that grieving gets easier, but good lord, it did not. Even those deceased months ago, it hurt more and more everytime he went to the cemetery. He dressed like a normal civilian today, sunglasses covering his signature green eyes, and a baseball cap covering his tousled chestnut colored hair. Of all days, he did not want today to be one where he was stopped. He stopped at one of the shrines that marked the entrance, one dedicated to Japanese patriotism, back before Brittania took over.

He choked on his breath and coughed, his eyes stinging. Times were so much more simple back then, there was so much more happiness and now... Everything was taken from him. All he had left was the notion that his home country was at last free.

The wind picked up, causing his hat to be blown off. He almost didn't care, but still went after it as it tumbled.

 _Why is the wind so aggressive?_

He thoughts were interrupted when his body felt... different. The rain stopped, in mid air, and Suzaku was paralyzed.

 _What is going on?!_

He saw a flash of light, felt something grasp his hand, and the Japanese boy was plunged into darkness.

* * *

 **AN: THANKS FOR READING! Ahhh this chapter felt weird for me and I can't quite figure out why. I guess I kinda wanted to get through the chapter pretty quick, wanted to get Lulu introduced to the gang and establish that connection with Shirley. Asher is very different than how I originally wrote her back in 2009, and I'm going to try to bring out more of her personality in the next chapter (when writing OCs, I'm so cautious of not over stepping canon boundaries, I sometimes make them bland?). I'm sorry if this chapter feels rushed, I may go back and edit it, but I am looking forward to writing chapter 3! Thank you for reading =3**


	3. Vessel

**AN: Chapter 3 is here! Sorry for the almost six month delay! EDIT: Re-uploaded after I saw the Re;Surrection movie on 5/7/2019. However, this still takes place after OG R2.**

It had been a few weeks since Lelouch arrived in Twilight Town and the former prince adapted quickly to this new place. He had moved into one of the bedrooms in the dorm that Asher lived in. Over the time it took to settle in, he got to know his roommates better, as well as catch up with Shirley on various evenings after school.

"So Asher, remind me your last name?" Lelouch asked the shorter girl. It was a Tuesday after school, and the pair went to go get coffee before heading back for a study session with their roommates.

She rolled her eyes, "For the last time, it's _Ives_ ".

"Okay, okay," Lelouch held up his hands, as if it would quell her annoyance, "I'm just making sure." His order had been called, so he went on over to the pick up counter to get his three shot espresso. Asher followed, just as her order was placed on the counter, a two-shot whole milk latte with three sugars, caramel, and whipped cream.

"That's disgusting, _Ms. Ives_ "

"Oh, fuck off Lelouch. Not ALL of us can drink liquid hyper-awareness also known as ' _I have reached another plane of existence_ '," Asher gestured at his drink as they left the coffee shop. "Besides, you're not the one drinking it, so why the hell does it matter to you?" Over the past few weeks, Lelouch prompted her with vague questions about her past, none of which she could produce an answer. This time it was her turn to ask a question.

"Sooooo... You and Shirley seem to get along _very_ well" Asher took a sip of her drink, a hint of tease in her tone.

There was no sense in lying to her, maybe it would help prompt her memories. "We do, in fact. She was very close to me in our old world, though our relationship was a bit complicated. Maybe there is chemistry there, maybe there isn't". He was a bit surprised that came out of his mouth. The thought of emotional intimacy was something that seemed impossible for him, he would even go as far as to say he feared it. Maybe not having the weight of the world on his shoulders coerced him into wanting to be more open. Lelouch was worried that the traumatic circumstances of her death may have caused these feelings.

Shirley didn't deserve that. She deserved someone that genuinely had feelings for her, not just feelings triggered by a traumatic event.

"Ooooh~ I love me a good romance," Asher grinned, "Well, lets hope for the best for you two!". This caused Asher to wonder if she had ever been infatuated with anyone before she lost all her memories. Sure, there were certainly some good looking boys at Twilight Town Upper, but she never experienced any special feelings for any of them. She laughed to herself, which caused Lelouch to raise an eyebrow at her.

"Care to share what's so amusing?"

"Ah, just laughing at the idea that maybe I experienced romance before my memory got all jumbled. It wouldn't happen to me and I doubt it ever did" She realized this made her feel disappointed, feeling as if her heart dropped slightly. It wasn't like she had low self esteem, but she also didn't find herself very attractive.

"You did," Lelouch stated, "I know you can't take my word due to your lack of remembering anything, but you definitely had some 'connections' back in our old world"

She gave him a wide eyed look. It definitely seemed like a foreign concept to her and honestly, she had no idea how to respond. The idea of someone even looking at her in that way seemed far fetched. Then again, everything in her life had become pretty far fetched in the past few months. Nothing should really surprise her anymore, but that's just the nature of who she was: a bit dense and constantly being surprised.

They chatted more on the way home, Lelouch occasionally trying to prompt her, though all his tries went to waste as everything went right over her head. Just as she was about to retort to something he said, she felt a pang in her head and her vision blurred. Asher stopped walking, pinching the bridge of her nose as the pain spread from her forehead to her nostrils. She heard a long and shrill ringing, which caused the pounding in her head to become more intense.

The seventeen year old wavered a bit, her coffee slipping out of her hands and splashing onto the pavement. Lelouch grabbed her wrist just before her knees could give out, holding her somewhat steady, "Asher what's wrong?". Concern tinged his voice, but Asher couldn't focus on that right now. Her vision went in and out of focus, almost as if a red filter was being applied every few seconds. She heard a loud pop and everything went back to normal. Vision was fine, her head no longer hurt, and her legs were no longer wobbling.

"Asher!"

She realized Lelouch had been talking to her. "Sorry... I don't know what happened there... I got really light headed and my ears were ringing. Dehydration?", She offered, then noting the knowing look Lelouch was giving her.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there a medical condition that I have?" She knew it was a bit paranoid, but hey, she knew essentially nothing about herself.

Lelouch let go of her wrist, "Something like that. Nothing life threatening" Half of it was a lie, but she wouldn't understand unless she had her memories.

Asher frowned, "Seriously?! Don't you think you should tell me something like that?"

"Oh calm down, I said it wasn't life threatening" Lelouch sighed, "I have a similar condition actually, and you see I'm just fine".

Asher narrowed her eyes, "Yeah? You seem unusually pale to me... unless you're a vampire! Would explain why you seem to be constantly brooding".

Lelouch thought to quip back, but was distracted as they strolled by a side street. It was fairly empty, except for a limping figure a few yards away from them. Lelouch stopped, watching the figure as it came closer. Asher had kept walking, rambling on about how vampires were over-hyped in movies and tv.

"I mean, they're always romance stories! All of them! Please tell me what is so romantic about someone lusting after your BLOOD." Asher threw her hands in the air, exasperated. That was when she noticed Lelouch had stopped, so she paused and turned to him, "Lelouch? What's wrong?"

He had mixed emotions when he realized who the figure was, of course it was right when the person made eye contact with him.

"Suzaku"

He had said his name so quietly that Asher didn't hear him.

For Lelouch, Suzaku was his best friend. They didn't see eye to eye on various topics, and by various topics he meant how to get Japan's freedom and integrity restored. But in that moment, despite the last time he had seen him and despite their broken friendship, Lelouch wanted to run to his friend and embrace him. Of course, he didn't ever act without reason.

The son of the former Prime Minister of Japan stared at Lelouch, eyes widening slightly, starting to register the boy standing in front of him.

"Suzaku" he said more loudly this time, loud enough for Asher to hear.

Suzaku paused his swaying forward, his eyes widening, "Is that really you?"

"Lelouch" the raven haired boy nodded in confirmation. "It is me".

The emerald eyed boy nearly trembled, tears filling his eyes as he resisted the urge to embrace his friend. He still felt weak from whatever happened earlier, "I can't believe you are here! I... Where are we? Am I dea-"

"No, you're not. You're very much alive. How did you get here? What happened?"

Suzaku briefly recalled what happened earlier that day,- was it even that day? Suzaku had no idea where he was, or how long he had been out cold. All he knew was he woke up in some alley with a throbbing pain in his left knee. "And then things went black. And then I woke up-" He froze.

He had just noticed Asher walk over, who's celeste eyes betrayed curiosity. "Ash!" Suzaku's knee pain suddenly wasn't an issue, though he nearly tumbled as he ran to her and embraced her.

Lelouch tried to not cringe, but he had no time to warn Suzaku about her condition. All of this was happening so fast, almost too fast for Lelouch to keep up. Asher however was wary of the individual that also somehow knew her and she wriggled out of the hug, pushing him away at his upper arms. "Um... I'm sorry? Have we met?"

Suzaku almost looked hurt, but didn't have time to reply before being barraged by Asher with questions, "Who are you? Are you from Lelouch's world? How did you get here? Maybe you also know-"

"Calm down," Lelouch said to her for the second time today. Suzaku gave him a questioning glance. "This is so strange... Out of all of us here, you got here a different way than we did Suzaku. I've been trying to make a connection, a reason why we have ended up here in Twilight Town. But so far I haven't found any common ground".

The two boys stared at each other for a few seconds before Suzaku gave him a tentative hug, "I'm so glad to see you both"

Lelouch gave him an awkward half pat on the back, not ever being one for physical affection, "Despite what you may think, I'm really glad to see you as well. We have a lot to talk about"

"That we do," Suzaku then turned to Asher, "Hey, um... joke's over, what do you mean who are you?"

Asher gave him a once over, "Joke's over?! I mean you just got here it sounds like but, if you are from Lelouch's world, you're S-O-L. I lost my memory at some point, about three months ago, which is when Lelouch said I disappeared from your world. So, I am sorry, but if we have met, I don't remember you"

Suzaku frowned, "You don't remember me?" It certainly was the last thing he expected, aside from seeing Lelouch and Asher again. "I... I see. That's really unfortunate to hear. So you don't remember Lelouch either? Or Japan, where we came from?"

Asher shook her head, "No. I'm sorry..." She noted how disappointed he looked and immediately felt bad.

"No, no please don't apologize! It's not like you chose to forget." Suzaku shook his head, trying to ignore the pain in his knee. He must've gotten it in the process of going from Japan to wherever he was now. He bent it, taking some weight off of it.

"Suzaku, why don't we take you back to our place and let you rest up. Get you some water and put your knee up" Lelouch offered, "We do have three weeks worth of catching up to do and a lot can happen in that amount of time."

" 'Our' place?"

"Well, we share it with some classmates! It's a six bedroom dorm suite." Asher nodded, leading them towards the apartment.

* * *

"I'm not sure you know the meaning of 'stranger danger', Ash," Riku had his hands planted on his hips as the three entered the apartment.

"He's a friend of mine," Lelouch lead Suzaku to the couch, where he could rest his feet, "I've known him for a very long time, he is no stranger to me".

Riku squinted at the Brittanian, "... Just three weeks ago you were a stranger too", he watched as Suzaku put his feet up on the ottoman. Already his knee felt much better.

Asher was pouting slightly, "Dude, the guy is injured! Chill out"

"I really do appreciate you guys letting me rest here", Suzaku nodded, still trying to process what happened. Not even an hour ago he was in Japan- was it an hour ago? Time seemed laughable, he seemingly ended up somewhere that Lelouch was alive. Maybe he was dreaming. None of this made sense, and he was surprised at how calmly he reacted to Lelouch being alive. Of course he was overjoyed. He looked over to the former prince, who was now sitting on a chair across from him, a pained expression on his face.

"Everything alright Lelouch?"

Lelouch looked up, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what about Nunally?"

Suzaku froze. He had last seen her right before visiting the cemetary, in a political meeting. But who would guard her? Who would watch out for her? What if Brittania struck war again? It was likely, that empire was _bloodthirsty_.

Noticing his panicked expression, Lelouch retracted and held up his hand, "It's alright. I'm sure she's well guarded"

"Who's Nunally?" Asher plopped down on the couch next to Suzaku. At this point, Riku had retreated to his room, sensing the shift in mood and not wanting to be a part of any 'drama'.

"My younger sister," Lelouch shifted his gaze towards her. _Now that Suzaku isn't by her side, her safety isn't exactly guaranteed anymore. I'm worried... it still stings coming to terms with the likeliness of ever seeing her again is slim to none..._

"Does she also look like a vampire?" Asher quirked, which caused Suzaku to chuckle.

"I see you haven't lost your humor. That's reassuring at least" He was about to say more before Kairi bounded down the hall, nearly skidding into the living room.

"OLETTE IS AWAKE" She was clutching her phone in her hand. Sora followed suit behind her, "Wait, who is this?"

"This is Suzaku! He's a friend of Lelouch. I'm so glad to hear that Olette is awake. How is she?" Asher felt relieved that her classmate was alright. With Axel and the Heartless around, Twilight Town was getting less and less peaceful.

Kairi gave Suzaku a side eye and glanced him over. She and Sora introduced themselves to him.

"It's nice to meet you, hope these two haven't caused too much trouble for you", Suzaku chuckled.

Asher raised her eyebrows as Lelouch rolled his eyes. "I am no troublemaker!" Asher scoffed.

"Yes you are," Sora laughed, "Are you from the same place Ash and Lelouch are from?"

"I am, we went to school together", Suzaku nodded, "As well as grew up together"

Asher wanted to take all this with a grain of salt, but her gut feeling told her to trust the boy she "met" only an hour beforehand. It was a strange feeling, someone you knew nothing about telling you that you grew up together. Memories that she didn't have and yet facts (or rather supposed facts) being dropped in her lap. Regardless, she felt inclined to trust him.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but Sora and I are going to visit Olette, see you guys later!" Kairi tugged on Sora's arm and they ran out the door.

* * *

"Rikuuu please? He has no where to go and we have one last room! We can get him enrolled at school. Plus, where do you expect him to go? It's not like he can just go back to where he came from." Asher was standing outside Riku's room as her roommate leaned against the door frame.

Her classmate sighed, "I mean I guess but we don't know him so you have to understand that I'm wary"

"I get that, Riku, but I take Lelouch's word for him being fine to stay here. We'll get him enrolled at school so they don't cause a fuss either".

Earlier in the living room, Suzaku had informed her that he was about to graduate high school. She wasn't sure how he would take having to do another few years of school.

The thought of other 'worlds' intrigued her. She learned from Riku that there are in fact other worlds out there, but apparently travel between them was basically unheard of. Which in turn meant that the people of this world had little knowledge of outside worlds, and certainly not any of the one Lelouch and Suzaku were from. It was unlikely but if she could, she wanted to try to visit the world they came from.

"Fine, fine. I'll call the school tomorrow, I'd like to handle this"

"Aw yeah, thanks Riku! I didn't want to leave the poor guy on the streets", Asher smiled and waltzed on back to the living room. "Good news, Riku will be setting up your admissions tomorrow, so you're fine staying in the last bedroom!"

Suzaku gave her a warm smile, "I really appreciate it. I hope me being here will help jog your memory".

"Wouldn't that be a miracle," Lelouch leaned back in his chair.

"Seems like miracles do happen, _Lelouch_ " Suzaku tilted his head slightly. It wasn't like stabbing your best friend and then finding out he is alive three weeks later wasn't a miracle.

"I don't know how you would explain... _this_. Miracle? Maybe. But I'm not quite sure"

Asher glanced at the both of them. What the hell were they going on about? Before she could inquire, her phone buzzed.

"That was Kairi, she wanted me to pick up some stuff for dinner," She grabbed her black hoodie off the coat rack and threw it on, "She better not expect me to be making dinner tonight, I think it's Sora's turn..." She scowled as she left the apartment.

The two childhood friends sat there in silence for a few moments. Abruptly, Suzaku leaned forward towards Lelouch, "What the hell is going on?"

"With...?"

"With Ash! With you, how the hell did you get here? And why doesn't she remember anything? And does she know about-" he gestured between him and Lelouch a few times, "The Requiem?"

"I would prefer to keep that quiet from her until she gains some of her memories back. I also did not tell Shirley that you stabbed me-"

"Can you not say it like that?"

Lelouch chuckled, "Sorry. Shirley doesn't know about the Requiem either, so I'd like it if you kept quiet about that as well. I have no idea why Asher doesn't remember anything. It surprised me as well, considering Shirley has complete recollection of everything before Rolo 'killed' her. As for me, things started to go black and I remember waking up, though I had no idea where I was. Someone was talking to me, but no one was nearby. I felt like I was floating, which was pretty unsettling considered I thought I had just died. Next thing I knew I was sitting up in the alley next to the bakery"

The brunette haired boy pondered this for a few seconds, "That's pretty strange"

"The weird part is that both Shirley and Ash also found themselves in the alley next to that bakery in their first few moments in Twilight Town" Lelouch added.

"Why there? I don't even know what to make of the fact that we're supposedly in 'another world'. It's just strange to me that no one here knows of Japan or Brittania, so we must be somewhere else... It just doesn't seem rational" Suzaku ran a hand through his hair.

"The more you try to reason with it, the more of a headache you will cause yourself. Let me do the hypothesizing, all right?" Lelouch meant no harm by the comment, but he knew Suzaku's strong suit wasn't critical thinking.

* * *

It was already dark by the time Asher made it halfway to the grocery store. She had always felt safe in Twilight Town, especially since she lived on the safe part of town. But ever since the appearance of Axel and these Heartless, Asher grew slightly uncomfortable with the idea of being outside by herself past sunset.

"Uhhh yeah no, this is ridiculous. I'm so paranoid now. I'm almost at the store, just get the groceries and I'll call up Kairi and Sora to meet me here so I don't have to walk home by myself..."

Asher's hands were clamy, but she trudged forward. What did Kairi want for dinner again? Asher pulled out her phone to take a look at the list, when a gloved hand gripped her over her mouth, silencing any attempt to scream. The other arm wrapped tightly around her torso as she flailed, attempting to kick her attacker. He started dragging her and her phone slipped out of her hand. Muffled screams escaped her as she struggled against his grasp.

"I wouldn't struggle if I were you. Seems quite exhausting", the voice was slow and relaxed, but his tone was cocky. "We've seen you hanging around Sora and them, and we plan to get some answers out of you"

 _Someone else looking for Sora? Is he working with Axel?_ Asher did not recognize his voice. He was also a bit bulkier than Axel from what she could feel. There were more of them?

She had no idea what they could want from Sora. Regardless, she stopped struggling, but the man didn't lessen his grip. She bit down on one of his fingers and he winced, lessening his grasp on her briefly, which gave her a moment to break free and take off running. She stole a glance at her attacker as she ran; his hair brushed back into a ponytail and with an eyepatch.

Without thinking, she took off in any direction available. "Damn it, I dropped my phone back there." She mentally pinched herself, knowing she couldn't call for help. "What does he want with Sora? He must be in league with Axel, considering they both wanted to take him with them. But why?"

Asher knew she had to get back and tell Riku there was another guy interested in Sora. Part of her wondered if Riku already knew.

Suddenly she noticed her assailant had followed her, being mere steps behind her. "I told you not to struggle", the cloaked man summoned an arrowgun and swung, landing a rigid blow to her head.

Asher's vision blurred as she crashed into the ground, head throbbing in pain. She attempted to fight back the blackness clouding her sight, but gave in as everything went dark.

* * *

Kairi glanced at the clock for the third time in the span of minutes.

"She hasn't texted back yet. Maybe her phone died?", Sora forced some hope into his voice.

Suzaku frowned, looking over at Lelouch to try to read his expression. He just reunited with Lelouch and Asher and already she had gone missing.

"I'm going to go look for her. Even for her, a grocery run shouldn't have taken this long", Riku threw on his jacket.

"Let me come with you", Suzaku offered, "I'd like to help"

"We'll call you Riku if she comes back here," Kairi nodded. She hoped to whatever deity was up there that Asher was okay.

"Sora come with me, you know... _just in case_ ", Riku gave his brunette friend a knowing glance. Suzaku caught this exchange and wondered what was up.

* * *

The three boys were making their way in the direction that Asher would have gone to the store. Riku really didn't want to explain to Suzaku, a near-stranger to him, what possibly could have been involved to cause Asher to not be picking up her phone. They cut through a back alley that would lead to the parking lot of the grocery store, the quickest route from their apartment.

"Wait a second", Sora saw something glowing on the ground, "I'm pretty sure this is her phone".

Picking it up, he examined it for a moment and confirmed his suspicions when he noticed the pumpkin phone charm, "Yep. This is hers..." his face blanched as he turned to Riku and Suzaku.

"I... I'm sure there is an explanation..." Suzaku stuttered a bit.

"Sure there is"

The three boys turned quickly to the voice.

There stood a man with his hair slicked back into a ponytail, an eyepatch covering one of his eyes. On the ground behind him was Asher, who was slumped against the brick wall.

Sora took a step towards him, "What did you do?!"

"Calm down, Sora. She's just taking a bit of a nap. Although I'd check her head later, I might have left a decent bump on it," the taller man quirked a smile, "It's so good to see you after so long. I think it's safe to assume you want your friend here back?"

At this point Sora wasn't surprised that the man knew his name. He figured that he was in lieu with Axel.

"In exchange for what?" Riku relaxed a fist, ready to summon his keyblade at any moment.

"You know what I need. Sora. Kairi."

Riku immediately summoned his Keyblade, causing Suzaku to gasp. He had never seen someone just... pull a weapon out of thin air.

"Never. This needs to stop. This wasn't supposed to happen", Riku's voice was on edge.

"Your happy little fairy tale is over Riku. Back to reality. Too bad it's me, Braig, breaking the news to you". Braig aimed his arrowguns at the silver haired boy.

Sora also summoned his keyblade, continuing Suzaku's surprise, "The least you guys could do is tell me why you want Kairi and I so bad"

"What's the point? Wouldn't change your mind about coming with us." Braig blinked through the air, hovering to the left of them and started shooting rapidly at Riku. The silverette dodge-rolled out of the way, launching himself at the adversary. He swung, his keyblade clashing with Braig's arrowguns. The force was enough to push them both back to the ground.

Suzaku took this moment to run over to Asher, who was still out cold. He knelt down next to her, shaking her shoulder's gently, "Ash! You gotta wake up. We gotta get you out of here".

At this point, Sora had joined Riku in his fight against Braig, and Suzaku over heard his two roommates exchanging choice words with Braig. Asher's hand twitched, her eyelids flickering slightly.

"What..." the dark blonde slurred, eyes opening a crack. Suzaku sighed in relief.

"You're okay, we're here."

The two heard Braig's gripes as he was hit by both Sora and Riku at the same time.

"It's too bad really, that you have zero idea whats going on my dudes" Braig snickered at the two of them. "Maybe you'd be more compliant if you knew what was at stake".

He shoved the two teens back, simultaneously summoning a dark portal, similar to the one that Axel used. He stepped through, "Until next time, _vessel_ ". The portal disappeared along with Braig, and Sora took a moment to catch his breath.

"Vessel? What did he mean by that?" Sora glanced at Riku, not really expecting an answer. Riku's attention was turned towards Suzaku and Asher, who had slowly begun to become more aware of what was going on. Her eyes were fully open and her speech was no longer slurred

"What happened to you? What did that bastard do to you?" Riku unsummoned his keyblade, which Suzaku made a mental note to inquire about later. He helped Asher to her feet, letting her lean against his side.

"I dunno... I was just walking and he just grabbed me. I tried to get away but that's when he smacked me over the head with his weapon" her face scrunched up in annoyance. She hated being in this position, defenseless and having to be saved. For whatever reason this felt completely unnatural to her.

She winced as she rubbed the spot where Braig had struck her and she felt a rush of anger. This couldn't happen again. She clenched her fists, "I'm looking into self defense classes, I _refuse_ to be the damsel in distress when you two can easily defend yourselves... Which comes naturally to the two of you"

"I encourage you to do that... Twilight Town isn't as safe as it used to be..." Riku looked down sadly.

"All the more reason for me to do so"

"I know I'm basically a stranger to you... but I'm honestly really happy you're okay" Suzaku's voice was a tad unsteady and Asher felt bad for getting him indirectly involved in all this. Really it involved solely Sora, Kairi, and Riku, but she had somehow been dragged into it against any desire of her own. If she was going to be involved, she might as well be able to defend herself and her friends.

"I appreciate it... Welcome to Twilight Town, Suzaku," She offered him a small but genuine smile. Things might not be as peaceful anymore in this quirky town of theirs, but it's where she called home for the moment.

* * *

 **A/N: I am sooooo sorry this took months to upload. Life hit me with bricks upon bricks upon BRICKS. I finally got my spark to write again and promise it wont take another 6 months to upload the next chapter.**


	4. Turbulence

**AN: So because when I first wrote this fanfiction, I was THIRTEEN (maybe 12), I've tweaked a lot from the original (which was named Code Hearts). I changed the plot completely after Dream Drop Distance came out. But again, this fanfiction takes place after R2 of Code Geass and shortly after DDD for Kingdom Hearts. I never finished the OG fanfic, think I got up to chapter 20? I had stopped writing it in 2014, just on hiatus. I expect this to be a lot longer than that because I have multiple "arcs" planned out and side plots involving various characters.**

* * *

Another one and another one and another one and...

"You know Riku, you think there's a way to take out these Heartless without two more popping up after we defeat one?", Sora exhaled breathlessly as he stumbled by Riku. They had been up by the tram station, hanging up posters for their school when a horde of heartless attacked.

"Maybe if you don't stumble and gain your footing..." the older boy chuckled at his friend, stabbing another Shadow.

"Shut up..." Sora groaned as he took a vertical swing at two heartless, "We've been at this for a while, can you blame me for being exhausted?"

Riku took a few more swings at multiple heartless, "I suppose not. Get good?" He took out the last Shadow with a final blow to it's head. Turning to Sora, he raised an eyebrow, smirking.

Sora rested his hands on his knees, "Easy for you to say! Who's always picked first in gym class? YOU." He stood up straight, pouting slightly.

"Well I mean you're right, but who gets picked second?"

"Me!" Sora beamed a toothy grin. "Poor Ash, usually picked last"

Riku laughed at this statement, "I can't blame our peers! Have you seen the stamina and coordination on that girl?". He made a swiping motion with his hand, "Nothing. I mean good on her for wanting to not be a damsel in distress, but... she's got a long way to go". He picked up the posters he had set aside while they fought off the heartless, taping another to the outer wall of the station, "Speaking of, how much do you think you've impressed Kairi being able to fend off hordes of heartless?"

Sora nearly dropped his stack of posters, "What the- Why would I be worried about impressing her?!", but the blush on his cheeks betrayed other thoughts.

"Uh-huh. Hey, I may have issues talking to girls, but I can spot your feelings for her from miles away"

"RIKU."

"I'm not sorry!" The silverette laughed, "C'mon, lets go finish hanging these posters inside the station"

* * *

Asher yawned, stretching out her arms as they walked into the front door of their apartment. She hadn't been sleeping well since the night she was assaulted by Braig. Everytime she closed her eyes, she saw his face. Once she drifted to sleep, his face would disappear and the nightmares would begin. They were different every night, but most of them involved her realizing her reality in the dream was being distorted by something.

"I need a nap..."

"Procrastinating on homework again, Ash? Keep this up and you'll lose credits at school" Kairi chided her friend.

"I'm just really fricken tired," her tone slightly cranky as she turned down the hall towards her room, "Wake me up for dinner..."

"Of course food would be what you wake up for," Riku muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!"

Suzaku chuckled as he set his bag down next to the couch, pulling out his books as he sat, "Despite her memory being gone, it's reassuring to see she still is as snarky as ever".

Lelouch plopped down next to him, "Don't you wish that maybe that was the one thing she forgot?"

"But then Ash wouldn't be Ash without her snark", Suzaku pointed out, flipping to the assigned page in his textbook.

"Makes me wonder how complete she feels without the rest of her memories..." Kairi frowned before also heading to her room. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have no identity aside from your name.

Suzaku stopped what he was doing and exchanged glances with Lelouch. At this point Riku and Sora had gone to their respective rooms to work on 'school work' (or in Sora's case, catching up on the latest Marvel comics).

Lelouch sighed, "I know Suzaku. I want to help her as much as you do, but I have no idea what's going to spark her memories to come back to her. We just have to be patient"

* * *

Asher had quickly changed into a tank top and leggings before collapsing on her bed in pure exhaustion. Not long after she closed her eyes did she drift to sleep. At this point, she was aware she was dreaming, so the lull of her environment didn't surprise her. Of course that did not ward off the anxiety, rather it induced it. Her environment was warm and their seemed to be a constant buzzing. Her vision had a red filter over it and she realized she was suddenly in a room? Wait... the room was moving. She didn't have any windows, but in fact had a monitor in front of her that showed the outside world? Or at least that is what she assumed.

Her hands seemed to move without granted permission by her brain. Next to the screen were a few levers, one of which she grabbed and shifted, sending the "room" zipping forward. Down the barren field she went, spotting a figure quickly approaching her. Too tall to be human she noted and as it became closer, she realized it might not be living at all? Up close she realized it looked very similar to the robots in those shows that Sora liked to watch, she thought they were called mechas? She felt a jolt, noticing through the monitor that it had pulled out an oversized sword of sorts and swiped at her. She hadn't even noticed that her hands were now on a different lever and as a result, she had pulled out her own mecha type sword and held it up in defense.

The attacking mech stuttered back and Asher took this moment to panic.

"These things always have an ejection button right?" her eyes frantically darted about the enclosed space. "Get me the hell out of here- AH!"

While distracted, the enemy mech had stabbed through part of her mech, though Asher wasn't exactly sure where as she couldnt see. The words "MALFUNCTION ERROR" flashed upon her screen before all the lights went out. Just her luck, that was when she found the eject button. She slammed it, in hopes to get out of this situation.

Nothing.

She smacked the button again, "Come on!"

The 'room' shifted with another jolt and she could tell they were falling over. She screamed, knowing nothing she could do would stop what was happening.

She hit the ground- of her bedroom- with a thud. Tangled in her blankets and sweating profusely, Asher struggled to sit up. Glancing around, she was relieved to find herself in her room.

"Must've fallen out of bed... idiot..." she wiped sweat from her forehead, "I need a god damned shower..."

* * *

Lelouch jumped slightly when he heard the bathroom door slam down the hall. He had been deep in thought, still on the couch, about the well-being of his sister Nunally. There had never been a situation before where he could not have some sort of control over it and it was killing him that he could not ensure his younger sister's safety.

"You know... I still think about her sometimes"

Lelouch turned to Suzaku, half wondering if he read his mind.

"I know after all that happened after the failed SAZ, I should... you know, not think about her"

Ah. Euphemia.

Suzaku continued, "Maybe it's because the extent of our relationship was pretty words and there's always that what if..." he hesitated and turned to Lelouch, "I'm sorry, I realize this makes you uncomfortable-"

"I miss her too", Lelouch admitted, a rare opening of his emotions.

Suzaku was a little surprised at Lelouch's confession, but decided not to verbally acknowledge it. It would only make the former emperor more uncomfortable.

"I guess I just... I know I used to love Euphie, but we never were able to have a physical relationship- of any level" Suzaku added in the last part quickly, causing Lelouch to chuckle slightly. "And with everything that happened after that... You can imagine my confusion."

"I can imagine your confusion is even moreso now than ever, now that circumstances have been thrown into the mix", Lelouch closed his textbook, packing it away in his bag. He was too distracted to even think about his academics, some things just don't change.

The Japanese boy didn't respond, but he didn't have to for Lelouch to know the answer.

" _God dammit_!"

The two boys turned at the sound of a crash and a thud from down the hall. Asher rounded the corner, rubbing her head as she walked past the two boys and into the kitchen while muttering, "Can today be over already?!"

Suzaku grimaced slightly, but followed her to the kitchen, "You okay Ash?"

Asher yanked a water bottle out of the fridge and gripped the cap tightly, "Yeah just... It's been a day."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I just... I don't even know" Asher unscrewed the cap and took a long sip of water, wishing it was some form of vodka. She set the bottle on the counter fairly aggressively, spilling out some of the water.

Suzaku frowned, "Hey, I know you're on edge about something... Let me know if you want to talk about it"

Asher met his gaze, which she noted was warm and felt she could trust him. "Honestly I'm just frustrated. Frustrated that I don't remember anything, frustrated that I have been basically powerless against these assholes like Axel and Braig. I did a few of those self defense classes downtown but... it's still annoying"

"I guess the important thing is that you trying to remedy the problem... one of them you can't help, to no fault of your own", Suzaku offered. He wished there was something he could do to help her remember. "I guess if you ever have questions about anything from your past, ask Lelouch or I and we can try to answer, maybe jog your memory a bit. After all, we had been friends since we were about 9 years old"

Asher spit out the water she had just taken a sip of, her face reddening from embarrassment. "We've been friends for almost a decade?". The concept seemed surreal to her, especially since it felt like she'd only known him for a few weeks. She grabbed a rag next to the sink and began to wipe up to mess of water she had made.

Suzaku mentally sighed, as it seemed she didn't forget how to be a train wreck most of the time. But still... it's what made her who she was. "Yeah, it's a pretty long story honestly."

A very long story at that.

Asher's cerulean eyes shone a bit brighter and she half-skipped towards Suzaku, startling him slightly, "I want to know _**everything**_!"

"Everything?! I don't even know where to start..." the brunette started to back away slowly as Asher followed him out of the kitchen.

"Start from the beginning!" Asher insisted with child-like enthusiasm.

"We'll be sitting here for days!" Suzaku laughed.

"So? I don't really like going to school anyway"

"That's so like you..."

"What?" Asher stopped following him. It still felt strange that him, Lelouch, and Shirley all seemed to know her and yet to her they felt like acquaintances. Is this what it felt like to be a celebrity? Minus the invasion of privacy and constant fawning of course.

Suzaku stared at her for a moment, attempting to figure out her thoughts. He took a few steps towards her and rustled the top of her head a bit, "Hey. We're going to do our best to get your memories back to you. I promise".

Asher couldn't hold back a smile, her supposed childhood friend seemed genuine and she knew she could trust him. "Thanks... I really appreciate the support you guys have been giving me".

"Of course. Knowing you, you'd do the same"

* * *

Finally the weekend had arrived and the stress of the week prior seemed to have vanished. The previous night, Asher had gotten a weapon's permit from her self defense mentor. They had discussed briefly what would work best for her and given the situation in Twilight Town, her mentor decided a melee weapon that could be quickly accessible would be the best option. Asher had to sign a waiver that she would go through rigorous and thorough training in order to not get the permit revoked.

When all was said and done, Asher had dragged Sora and Riku to one of the weapon shops in town and picked out a shorter scimitar. While Monday after classes were over she would need to go to see her self defense trainer, she had this full weekend to relax.

Currently she was in the living room, watching Riku and Sora play a game of checkers, with the incentive that whoever loses is buying the tequila for tonight.

"I really don't care who wins, as long as someone buys the tequila", Asher leaned forward to get a closer look at their game. "Best out of three or just one game?"

"One is all I need," Riku smirked, causing Sora to roll his eyes as he made his next move.

"Okay edgelord, it's your turn"

Riku laughed, but continued with his play. "You gonna make Kairi do shots with you later?"

"... Why?"

"Don't you want to prove 'what a man' you are in front of her", Riku raised a challenging eyebrow at his friend, mocking him slightly.

"Uh excuse me?"

Asher giggled, as she had recently found out about Sora's feelings for Kairi.

"Riku, I don't need to prove what a 'man' I am in front of her" Sora made his move, collecting one of Riku's checker pieces.

Asher jumped in, "Right, you can prove it by just whipping out your-"

"AND I'm gonna stop you right there Ash", Sora glared at her as she laughed.

* * *

It was general knowledge that there were in fact other worlds aside from the one Twilight Town resided in. However travelling between them was basically unheard of. Travel via space ship? It would take nearly a century to reach the closest world. Few had studied inter-planetary travel, and very few means to traverse to foreign lands were even being touched upon. Technology advanced daily of course, but those in the field knew they were nowhere near travelling between worlds just yet.

That is, unless you were Axel, and you used darkness itself to travel wherever you needed to go.

The red headed man had just closed up the portal he used to get to his home, a castle where those similar to him resided in. Not wanting to deal with a grumbling Xigbar, Axel went through a side entrance to the castle. He snuck past a few of the other residents of the castle, all whom were a part of 'Organization 13'. He nearly floated his way down the stairs to the lab that Zexion, another resident, often worked in. Carefully he slid the door open, so as to not disturb Zexion if he was down here. To his relief, the inquisitive man was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

Down the hall from the main lab, Axel slid past the last door to his destination. The room was pitch black, aside from the light coming from large glowing green tubes that stood at the end of the room.

The lithe man sighed as he walked up to the tubes. Inside three of them were former friends of his that were in a catatonic state.

Roxas. The boy that had become his best friend and betrayed him.

Namine. The quiet witch that always seemed to know what was going on.

Xion. The girl that had become his other best friend, but who the other organization members only saw as a "puppet".

A battle had transpired not too long ago that put them in this state. However, Zexion could bring them back, the kid was a genius. It just required the captivity of Sora and Kairi.

Axel knew about what transpired and why Riku was working so hard to protect his friends. It was admirable and he related for wanting to protect his own. However, not everyone in this situation could win. In all honesty, Axel could care less that he was being selfish. What other purpose was there? Get his friends back, whcih would lead to getting their hearts back, as Xehanort had promised him.

Did he completely trust the old man? Not really, but it was better than doing nothing.

He heard a creak and quickly ducked behind one of the shelves. Through a crack in the shelving, he saw Zexion walk into the lab, followed by Xemnas.

"Your forte might be the books and numbers, but I might need to send you out into the field soon. Seems as if the others need a bit of help", Xemnas watched as Zexion flipped through a file.

"I suppose you're right, seems we put too much faith in Axel"

 _That's just rude..._

"... He isn't like he used to be. You know, before his memory was wiped and rewritten" Zexion handed a stack of papers from the file to Xemnas.

Axel froze, feeling his body run cold.

"It was a necessary risk, you know that," Xemnas glanced briefly through the pages that Zexion had handed to him. "We need him, just as we need these three. We had lost him to the 7 Lights, but got him back to our ranks. It's better this way".

Zexion nodded in agreement. "Of course".

Axel's body trembled slightly and suddenly he felt unsure of everything. What had they meant by his memories had been rewritten? The thought of his memories potentially not being real scared the hell out of him. Was his friendship with Roxas even real?

"I'll take these papers to Master Xehanort. Keep up the study on these three. Soon we'll have them revived and used as vessels." Xemnas briskly left the room, the file in hand.

Zexion waited a few beats before he was sure Xemnas had vacated the basement laboratory before collapsing in a chair and sighing.

 _Please just fucking leave,_ Axel felt betrayal from Zexion. They weren't necessarily friends, but they had companionship and now that seemed completely lost.

"I'm surprised Xemnas didn't see you. You can come out now, Axel", Zexion beckoned him out of hiding.

Immediately, Axel rounded the corner of the shelves and briskly walked over to Zexion, hands balling into fists.

"Wanna tell me what the hell is going on? My memories have been **rewritten**? What is that supposed to mean?" his eyes blazed, which for a split second Zexion found ironic.

"I can't explain everything right now Axel. It will ruin everything if word spreads but once I do fully explain what is going on, I need you to cooperate with me".

The red head narrowed his eyes at the intellectual. For such a smart person, Zexion was speaking absolute nonsense.

Zexion continued, "Yes, your memories have been altered- and yes, I'm working on getting those back to you. You have to be patient because until then, nothing will make sense. I will say this, we're not supposed to be in Organization XIII anymore. We're in the midst of a war that has taken hiatus and I can tell you, once you have your memories back, you'll know that we're fighting on the wrong side. We'll get back to where we need to be, but it's baby steps".

Axel gave Zexion a once-over. Could he trust him? He couldn't even trust Xehanort, even less now. Was this some selfish scheme that Zexion would loop him into somehow?

Still, he was curious.

"Baby steps? Well then what's the first step?"

A rare wicked grin flashed briefly across Zexion's face, before his expression returned to his usual blank stare. He leaned in and ever so quietly said, "We're going to take down the Organization".

* * *

Saturday night, Suzaku pulled Lelouch aside onto the balcony of their apartment. Despite surface level seeming peaceful there was obviously an elephant in the room that was pulling at the Japanese boy.

"For god's sake Suzaku, why are you looking so nervous? Wait..." Lelouch squinted at his friend, "I'm just realizing the minimal eye contact you have been making with me since you arrived here".

"Well that answers my question about how obvious that was". Suzaku frowned. "Look, Lelouch, I'm just worried. Do you still have your Geass?"

"With us not being anywhere near a war, I have no reason to use my Geass. I do still have it, but I don't have a need for it."

Suzaku lifted his gaze to make eye contact, believing Lelouch. At least, he wanted to believe him.

Lelouch continued, "I want you to understand, that for once I have absolutely no idea what's going on. I don't know 'how' we got here or even why we are here. I don't know why I'm alive. What I do know is this is a chance for all of us to have a normal life. Aside from the various strange events surrounding this town, we basically have peaceful lives now. Shirley is at peace here, as far as I know. You seem to have some relief for once in your life! Ash, as far as she knows, is living a normal life now as well. While this isn't ideal, while we aren't at home and in a familiar place, I wouldn't jeopardize the serenity and normalcy that you all have because of my Geass".

He knew that Suzaku had trust issues (warranted he would admit) with Lelouch, but at the very least he hoped that Suzaku would believe that Lelouch wanted peace for them.

Suzaku was quiet for a few moments. It wouldn't happen overnight, but because their situation was different now, he was willing to let Lelouch earn his trust again. "If we're going to stay on good terms, I need you to not use your Geass while we are in this world. I don't see any situation where it is okay to force someone to do your bidding. Brittania and Japan was one thing, but Twilight Town? Lets try not to stir the pot".

"That's fair, I hadn't planned to use it."

"And the Requiem... I have to ask-"

Lelouch cut him off, "A plan that I put in place. I think it would be completely stupid if I was holding anything against you for that".

Suzaku's shoulders relaxed, "Hey, I just had to make sure that we're on good terms"

"I understand. I think what we should be more worried about is getting you, Shirley, and Asher back home. It goes without saying that I can't come with-"

"Lelouch, I really think you should come with us. It would mean the world to Nunally. We'd be able to hide you" Suzkau argued. If anything, he'd want Lelouch to come back to be there for his sister. But he realized that in an ideal world, this probably wouldn't be able to happen.

"You know it would put what we did at risk".

Suzaku silently nodded. Of course he knew, and it was childish for him to want a happily ever after for them all. Even still, he could only wish. "How would we explain Shirley's alive? Or that Asher-"

As if on cue, Asher slid open the porch door. Suzaku flinched in surprise, as he hadn't expected her to step out just as he was mentioning her. The amnesiac girl noticed right away and gave him a questioning look.

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? Are you two talking about something I shouldn't be hearing?" Asher inquired, glancing between the two boys.

"Hm it's almost as if sometimes two people are trying to have a private conversation without people being nosy", Lelouch said to her.

"I'm not nosy! I just noticed a change in mood the second I walked out here," Asher scoffed, frowning at Lelouch. "Well anyway, I guess we're planning on going out for the evening. Kairi mentioned something about going downtown, you guys should join!"

"I'd love to, I'm still not familiar with Twilight Town so I'd like to check it out more", Suzaku had regained his composure. "We'll be right in there, okay Ash?"

Asher glanced between the two suspiciously but waltzed inside anyway.

"Shirley has questions. But they're questions that I haven't given her clear answers to. I don't want to upset her. She remembers Rolo shooting her and everything leading up to it but obviously she doesn't know about the requiem." Lelouch quickly mentioned, "So I'm just warning you, she probably will come to you with questions. If you want to be the one to tell her that and upset her, that will be on you."

Suzaku gave him a look of disbelief, "Lelouch, you really think I'd want to upset Shirley like that?". The poor girl was still obviously mad for Lelouch and for her to know what occurred merely weeks ago would upset her greatly.

"I didn't think you did, but that's up to you." Lelouch opened the balcony door and Suzaku followed behind him.

Asher was impatiently holding their coats that were hanging on the coat rack out to them. The look on her face caused Suzaku to laugh.

"What?" Asher raised an eyebrow as she handed him his grey denim coat with a black hood, simultaneously handing Lelouch his dark navy peacoat.

"Nothing." Suzaku pulled on his jacket.

Sora glanced between the two of them briefly, "Alright, come on guys!"

"So where are we going exactly?", Lelouch asked the group.

"To the arcade!" Kairi beamed, "There's also a casino upstairs, but obviously we aren't old enough to gamble."

Suzaku gave Lelouch a knowing look, causing the former prince to smirk. Everyone back home was aware of his gambling habits.

"Psh, gambling isn't fun anyway! Not when you can kick your friend's ass at Mario Kart", Asher nudged Sora.

The spikey haired boy scoffed, shaking his head at Asher, "Yeah OKAY. Whatever helps you sleep at night"

"I can attest to Ash kicking your ass at Mario Kart. Sorry Sora," Riku nudged his friend, who in turn pouted at him.

Kairi laughed at the two boys and Asher smirked, "See!"

"I can't remember the last time I went to an arcade", Suzaku pondered to himself. "Probably early child- wait..." his cheeks reddened a bit and he trailed off.

Lelouch rolled his eyes at his friend but didn't say a word. He himself had never been to an arcade, and even as a child never had an interest. He would absolutely be sneaking into the casino upstairs.

"Uh, are you good?", Asher noticed Suzaku's change in complexion.

"Yeah... don't worry about it", he forced a laugh. Suzaku worried that he was letting his guard down too much. After all, what happened in their world caused him to build a wall between himself and everyone around him. Despite knowing that this world was different and he didn't need to keep up an exterior, it would still take some getting used to.

The group arrived at the arcade, leading with Sora racing straight for the stationary go-kart games.

"Riku! I challenge you to a race- around Rainbow Road!"

The older boy smirked, "You're on! I think we know who will win, considering I'm the only one with a license right now".

"That has nothing to do... oh whatever!", Sora slipped a few quarters into the machine as Riku sat in the seat next to him.

"Winner gets to use their tickets for a prize for Kairi!"

"Wait what?!" Sora turned quickly to Riku just as the final ding to start the race went off. Riku pressed on the gas and his character sped ahead. Sora quickly reconstituted himself, cursing at Riku under his breath.

Kairi laughed, blushing, and pointed over at skeeball. "I'm gonna have a round over there," nudging Asher she continued, "You and Suzaku should come over with me and play air hockey!"

"I love air hockey!" Asher followed Kairi.

Suzaku turned to beckon Lelouch to follow, but the former prince was no where in sight. He looked towards the sign that said "Casino Upstairs: No entry under 21". Suzaku chuckled, not at all surprised that in the short amount of time he had been here that Lelouch already made a fake ID.

Over at the air hockey table, Asher had already put in the coins to start the game up.

"Winner has to... hm... buy the other a cherry soda! Those are my fave!", Asher mopped her side the table a bit with her peg.

"You're on!" Suzaku placed the puck on the table and pelted it with his peg. It went zipping over to Asher's side and she knocked it back. The puck pinballed between the walls of the table, slowing down on Suzaku's side. Suzaku hit it again, landing a shot in Asher's goal.

The blue-eyed female scowled slightly, "What's it out of? 7?" She placed the puck directly on the table.

Suzaku leaned over to look at the score chart, "Uh, yeah its out of-" _clang!_ "... 7"

Suzaku narrowed his eyes as he placed the puck back on the table, "Well I see you haven't changed one bit!"

Asher giggled, deflecting the shot back to his side, "I'll take that as a compliment!"

She scored two more goals after that, but Suzaku proceeded to hit four more, winning the match.

"Guess I owe you that soda! I'll be right back", Asher pranced off to the concession stand.

Kairi approached Suzaku, "You seemed to have fun! I saw how Ash distracted you, what a sneak," Kairi sighed, "But I heard you mention she hasn't changed so I guess that's good, right?"

"Oh for sure. It's kinda endearing, but kinda infuriating" Suzaku smiled.

Kairi was about to inquire when a blue teddy bear was shoved in her face.

"Here Kai, this is for you," Riku handed her the bear her had won her. "You know, since I beat Sora".

Said person was pouting slightly. Sora had wanted to win Kairi the bear. Riku however was doing it just to spite Sora.

Kairi glanced between the two boys, not really sure what was going on, but grateful for the bear Riku had won her. "Thanks Riku!

Asher came back with the cherry soda and handed it to Suzaku. "Onto the next game!"

The five of them went around the arcade, challenging each other at various games. Asher couldn't help but feel sentimental. With everything going on, she felt a weird calmness despite being in an arcade. Her and her friends could just be here and have fun without worrying about anything else, or anyone else.

Lelouch came back downstairs after Suzaku had texted him that they were leaving.

"How much did you win~?" Asher tried to get a glimpse at his wallet.

"None of your business, Ives"

Asher pouted, but concerned herself with something else as Kairi said, "I kinda want to go to the bookstore before they close. Lets go to the shops downtown and we can pick up dinner to bring home".

"PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!", Sora cheered. "The comic I'm reading just came out with the new volume, so I'll go with!"

"I can pick up dinner while you guys are at the bookstore if you want", Riku offered.

The group split off, though the pizza shop was only down the street from the bookstore. In the bookstore, Asher split off from the group and went into one of the adjacent aisles. She browsed, not looking for anything in particular, as she didn't have the attention span to concentrate on reading for very long. It made her wonder if she had always been this spacey or if this was some side effect of amnesia.

One book in particular did catch her eye, mostly because the cover was pretty. It was a fantasy novel, not one she had heard of before. She picked it up off the shelf and was about to open it when she felt a wave of anxiety course through her. The scenery of the bookstore was suddenly replaced with an unfamiliar city. Not even a second to wonder where this hallucination came from and the buildings crumbled. She heard a young girl crying- wait, was _she_ crying? Was she the young girl? A house blazed in front of her and more sobs escaped her. From the flames a man emerged and took agitated steps towards her.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU- you half blood!"

"Excuse me?"

She snapped back to reality when a store employee approached her, holding out the book she had just been holding.

"You dropped this. It's a good read, one of my favorites by this author"

Asher took the book back, "Thank you..." She dabbed her face. Dry. Those tears seemed so real.

"Gods! What is that high pitched screeching sound?" The employee rubbed his temples.

"What sound?" Asher didn't hear anything, including when her roommates joined her in the aisle.

"You mean you don't hear that? It's unbearable- maybe I really do need my hearing checked" The employee winced, walking back towards the front of the store.

Suzaku gave him a quizzical look asthe employee walked off, "I don't hear anything out of the ordinary either"

Asher turned towards them and Lelouch nearly lost his composure. He quickly turned Sora and Kairi's heads away so they weren't making eye contact with Asher. Asher raised her eyebrow, "What...?"

"Suzaku- don't look her in the eye-"

"I'm not, Lelouch", Suzaku had already averted his gaze.

At this point Asher thought this was all some ridiculous prank, "Hey, guys, what the hell is going on?"

Lelouch sighed, "You know how I said we have a similar medical condition?"

Asher was thoroughly freaked out right now. Something felt very wrong.

"Yeah?"

"Well that was a bit of a understatement. I didn't still think you had it so I didn't bring it up before. Pull out your phone and look at your front facing camera"

Asher did just that and yelped when she saw the reflection. One of her irises was red, with a small bird-like symbol in her pupil. She immediately covered her eye with her hand and the others finally made eye contact with her.

"Lelouch, you need to tell me right now what the hell this is."

Suzaku chimed in, "We should go outside, we're causing a scene" The five of them went outside. Both Sora and Kairi were absolutely puzzled and concerned. The world that Lelouch and company were from was certainly a strange one.

"I'll ask again- Lelouch, what the hell is this?"

The raven haired boy reached up, placing a hand over his right eye.

"Lelouch no- you said you wouldn't-"

"I'm not going to use it on her Suzaku." Lelouch looked at Asher with his left eye and the same glow appeared. Asher gasped as Sora and Kairi gawked. Suzaku just turned away from them, not wanting to see any of this going on.

Lelouch continued, "It's not quite the same, I can literally make people obey my command. You can affect the senses of others around you for a limited amount of time. But both of our powers are called **Geass** ".

* * *

 **AN: WOW THE ARCADE SCENE WAS SO HARD FOR ME TO WRITE? Idk why. But in the OG fanfic, I had revealed Lelouch's Geass much later to the others and Asher's Geass in a different manifestation. Thanks for bearing with me, I'm hoping chapter 5 wont take another 6 months... I'd like to have a few more chapters before the Code Geass movie! And definitely a few more chapters before KH3. Please review!**


	5. Anxiety

**A/N: I have not finished Kingdom Hearts 3 at the time of this publication. I also want to say again that this diverts from the timeline and takes place after KH 3D. As for Code Geass, this takes place after R2, not the Resurrection movie.**

* * *

"Sorry... what did you call it?", Sora chimed in.

Asher interjected, "I don't care what it's called! How do I turn it off?" At this point, her hand was still covering the eye that contained her Geass.

Lelouch turned his off. "It's hard to explain through words. You have to basically 'will' it away."

Asher scoffed, "How can I just will something away if I can't even feel it there!"

"It's hard to explain. You have to let go feeling absolute control"

"Oh as if that makes it any less confusing!"

"I'm just trying to help" Lelouch replied calmly.

"I can't believe this followed us here", Suzaku muttered, though the others heard him.

Kairi had never seen anything like this. She knew people could train to wield magic, but this didn't seem like ordinary magic to her.

Asher was terrified and didn't feel in control at all. If she wasn't in control, then how would she lose the feeling of control? Something inside her snapped and she felt a sharp sting in the eye that had Geass in it.

She drew in a sharp breath in response to the pain. But was it gone?

Asher let her hand falter, "I just felt pain in my eye... is it gone?"

Lelouch nodded, "It's gone."

She sighed, "I don't even know what set that off... I don't want that ever again."

Suzaku turned to her, a glum look on his face. He was about to say something when Riku walked back over holding three pizza boxes.

"Hey, someone help me carry these!"

Sora grabbed two of them from him, "Gotchu fam"

Riku assessed the mood pretty quickly "Why do you all look so... upset?"

"Don't worry about it. I just want to go home" Asher replied quickly, which caused Riku to become even more curious.

* * *

No one spoke of the incident in the following days. Asher was quieter than normal, but that was partially due to exhaustion after combat lessons downtown. Her weakness was her stamina, leaving her gasping only a minute or so into her lesson. Even still, she was determined to not become a damsel in distress and continued her lessons.

The exhaustion left her going to bed early and sleeping in late, usually being the last one awake before school. Riku began greeting her every morning with a travel mug of coffee (and of course, extra sugar and extra cream). This particular morning, they were halfway to school when Asher finished her coffee, leaving her grumbling about needing more caffeine. Regardless, she was happy that her self defense teacher said that he saw improvement in her.

When they reached school, Shirley was standing outside the front doors. Suzaku had to wonder if she was waiting for them- or rather, waiting for Lelouch.

"Hi Lulu!"

Definitely the latter.

"Good morning Shirley", Lelouch greeted the orange haired girl. "Did you remember to bring the text book I let you borrow?"

"Yep! I can't believe I lost my copy... I'm so much more organized than this", she handed him the copy that she had borrowed, "Hey... so after class today do you-"

"Well... sounds like something is distracting you. Hope you figure it out!", with that, Lelouch turned briskly and walked inside, leaving Shirley and the others dumbfounded.

"Wait Lelouch! What the hell?", Suzaku frowned. He thought the former prince was changing for the better, but it seemed he still closed himself off emotionally. He knew Shirley still had feelings for Lelouch and thought he reciprocated, so he was a little miffed that Lelouch just brushed Shirley off so quickly.

Kairi leaned towards Asher and covered her mouth as she whispered, "I thought you said those two had a thing or something"

Asher mimicked her position, "I swear he told me they have feelings for each other. I have no idea what that was about".

Shirley didn't hear either of them, but regardless Lelouch's abrasiveness stung. Anytime they hung out outside of school, Lelouch honestly seemed fine, if not opening up a bit more.

Suzaku gave her a sympathizing look, "Shirley, I doubt it is anything against you. With everything that has happened, he probably is just closing himself off and being the old Lelouch".

"I just feel like I missed out on so much after I died-"

"Excuse me after you _what_?" Asher interjected immediately.

Suzaku mentally slapped himself for not filling Shirley in that they were not going to speak of what lead to Shirley and Lelouch arriving in Twilight Town.

Sora and Riku exchanged glances, bewildered.

"Before I got to Twilight Town, I was shot and killed." Shirley admitted, speaking up.

"How is that even possible? How are you alive now?", Kairi asked. Nothing about these people made any sense to her.

Asher looked over at Suzaku, "Did you... also-"

"No, definitely not. It seems you can get here without dying." Suzaku reassured her.

"Wait, but how did Lelouch get here?" Shirley inquired. "He wasn't also-"

 **DING! DING!**

"Dammit guys, the late bell!", Asher ran inside, followed by Riku, Kairi, and Sora.

Suzaku turned to follow as Shirley asked, "Can we talk about this later?"

Without turning back to her, Suzaku nodded and jogged inside the school, leaving Shirley anxious to know the truth.

* * *

Despite the late bell, there was no teacher in the classroom when the students arrived a few minutes late.

Kairi sat at a desk next to Olette, "Hey! I heard that Hayner took a beating when he had a run in with Seifer the other day". Hayner, Pence, and Olette were inseparable, the three of them going to school together since grade school.

On cue, Hayner leaned forward from the desk on the other side of Olette, "Woah hold on! I had a disadvantage! I was... I was..."

"Yeah, okay Hayner." Kairi laughed.

"Can you just not go near Seifer anymore please? I don't care how he provoked you, be the bigger person!" Olette huffed at her friend.

Hayner scoffed while leaning back in his chair.

"Uh, so where is our teacher? Class was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago. After twenty we can just leave right?" Sora glanced around the classroom.

"So you're one of _those_ students" Lelouch chuckled.

"Wait, wait, wait! That's a thing? You can just leave if they don't show up for twenty minutes?" Asher's mouth formed a small "o".

"Don't get your hopes up. Someone will walk in at minute nineteen. It always happens that way" Riku sighed.

They heard shuffling behind them and Asher turned to see their classmate, Selphie, packing up her book bag. "I have much better things to do than sit in a class that isn't even happening!"

"I mean, you're right, but what would that be?" Sora questioned her.

"It's a secret" Selphie winked.

Meanwhile, Asher stared intensely at the clock on the wall, leaning forward on her desk and tracking every minute that went by.

Three minutes.

Too bad her Geass couldn't manipulate inanimate objects.

This thought took her aback. She didn't want this power at all, so considering the potential shouldn't be crossing her mind.

"Earth to Asher, hello?", Suzaku waved a hand in front of her face and she snapped out of it.

"Sorry, spacing out..."

"I could tell. You okay?" he seemed worried about her.

"I was staring at the clock to see how much time we had left," She glanced at the clock again.

Two minutes.

"You can think you have all the time in the world, but everything flies by so quick..." Suzaku trailed his thoughts off.

"I'm sorry what?" Asher didn't expect him to suddenly get philosophical.

Suzaku realized what slipped out of his mouth, "Er, it's nothing. Sorry!" he laughed nervously.

"I mean, there's some truth to that for sure", Asher offered a small smile to the emerald eyed boy. "I was just surprised that you got so philosophical all of a sudden"

"I've had a lot on my mind. But don't worry about it!"

"Of course I'm going to worry about you," she huffed, "You flip flop between almost melancholic and quickly shifting gears into a different mood all together".

Suzaku had no idea how to respond.

"ONE MINUTE!" Sora yelled.

But of course, the classroom door swung open and their teacher nonchalantly walked in, causing a collective sigh of defeat to echo through the classroom.

* * *

The Twilight Town students spent their lunch break outside, enjoying the unexpected warm weather. However, Lelouch was no where to be found. Not even five minutes in, Shirley marched up to the table and tugged on Suzaku's arm, "Is now a good time to talk?".

Not giving him time to answer, she dragged the lean boy (to his protest) away from the table.

"I don't think I've ever seen Shirley be this assertive before", Riku watched until the pair left his line of sight.

"I mean, it does concern Lelouch. And we've all seen how she is around him", Asher said before taking a bite of her sandwich, "Even without Lelouch saying anything, it's pretty obvious that she likes him A LOT".

"I have to wonder... it seems like Lelouch and Suzaku hide a lot about their past, almost as if they seem ashamed? At least Suzaku does, Lelouch just looks mildly uncomfortable. Then again, he doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve", Kairi noted.

"Unlike Suzaku. He's always been the more emotional of the two", Asher spoke in an almost melancholic tone.

The other three looked at her skeptically.

"Oh? Is that all you remember from your past?" Kairi narrowed her eyes.

"What?", Asher realized what she said and was taken aback, "Uh... I don't know where that came from."

"I mean you sounded pretty confident with that statement. Maybe your memories are pushing their way back?" Sora offered.

"Wouldn't that be nice..." Asher sighed.

Meanwhile, Shirley had pulled Suzaku aside away from where most students were eating their lunch.

Suzaku knew she was anxious; he felt the sweat in her palms when she pulled him over. He would be lying if he wasn't anxious too. Lelouch had explicitly told him not to mention the Requiem to Shirley. But now that Shirley was on to the possibility of Lelouch suffering the same fate as her, he knew she would inquire again.

He couldn't lie to Shirley. After everything they all suffered together, it felt even more wrong to be dishonest.

"Suzaku, I need you to be honest with me"

Well damn, there it was.

"What happened after I died? No one even told me if the war was over", Shirley frowned. "How did Asher and Lelouch get here? When Asher started attending school here, she couldn't remember a single thing prior to a few days before. I pressed Lelouch, but... he started avoiding me recently. I need to know what's going on. You gotta understand Suzaku, this is killing me!"

The desperation in her eyes was more than enough to make Suzaku cave. "Shirley... the war's over. Japan is free and Brittania is at peace. However, it came at a price."

Suzaku bit his lip in hesitation.

Shirley seemed afraid but continued, "What was the price?"

"The... the..." flashbacks of the requiem ran through Suzaku's mind and his eyes stung at the fresh memory. "We... had a plan. No, Lelouch had a plan. I just carried it out. Lelouch created Zero as a hero and the emperor a villain to take in all the hate. At this point, Lelouch was the Brittanian emperor."

He was afraid to make eye contact with Shirley. He knew that she knew where this was going.

"The emperor was Lelouch... and to end the hate he took upon himself... he would have to end..." tears were forming in Shirley's eyes and she covered her mouth to suppress her sobs.

"If Zero became the hero... he had to kill the emperor. If Lelouch wasn't Zero, who-"

The expression on Suzaku's face was her answer. He barely mouthed the word "Me" to her.

She turned from him, face buried in her hands. He watched her helplessly as her shoulder's shuddered, being the voice of her silent sobs.

"Suzaku, what did you do?"

Oh. No.

Suzaku turned painstakingly to find Lelouch standing behind him, an irritated expression on his face.

Suzaku knew no one was happy with him right now.

* * *

Back at the table, Riku pondered the potential past that Lelouch, Suzaku, and Asher had. It was apparently intense enough where they were hiding things from both Shirley and Asher. Regardless, both deserved to know the truth.

 _I suppose that's a bit hypocritical_ , Riku thought to himself, glancing at Sora and Kairi conversing while Asher just sat and listened to them. Riku began to understand why Lelouch and Suzaku were so secretive. It was to protect both Shirley and Asher from the truth and things that would hurt them to hear. He thought it was strange how this mirrored his situation with Sora and Kairi, but thought nothing more of it.

Asher sipped (loudly of course) the last of her apple juice carton before tossing it in a nearby trash can. "Jeez, they really are taking a while. I hope everything is okay"

"I'm sure Suzaku is handling whatever it is just fine", Kairi assured.

"Okay, but are we not going to talk about the fact the Shirley said she had been SHOT? And apparently DIED before ending up in Twilight Town?", Sora flailed his arms. Riku grabbed them and lowered them back to his sides.

"Oh yeah that", Asher grimaced, "Suzaku said he didn't get here by dying- OH MY GOD. Wait. Waiiiiit. Lelouch didn't want to upset Shirley with- oh wow, I think he died too? But it makes no sense, how are they dying and yet they're here alive?!" Asher's head was spinning.

"Hmm wonder how you died. Probably tripped down the stairs", Sora snickered, earning a light slap on the arm from Asher.

"That's not funny, you asshole. I mean, Suzaku didn't die getting here, so I don't see why we're assuming that I died too. None of this even makes sense!"

"It really doesn't", Kairi frowned, "I mean what matters is that regardless of how you all got here, you're all alive and safe and somewhat healthy now."

"Safe isn't probably the right word", Riku muttered quietly.

They spotted Suzaku walking back over to them.

"So? How did it go?" Sora asked.

"Lelouch took Shirley home for the day. Look, I really don't want to talk about it", the brunette packed up his untouched lunch.

"Oh" Sora's joking attitude subsided. Suzaku proceeded to head inside the school, despite there still being fifteen minutes left of their lunch break.

Without missing a beat, Asher ran after him.

"Suzaku!" She yelled to him trying to keep up regardless of the fact that he kept walking. Catching up to him, slightly out of breath, she grabbed onto his arm.

"I wasn't lying earlier, I am worried about you Suzaku!"

The former soldier stopped finally, turning his head to her.

"I'm here for you."

His shoulders relaxed seeing her expression.

"I don't know you all that well, but I can see you're often uneasy and this isn't natural for you. So I mean it, I am worried. I'm worried about all of you. Whatever it is that happened back home seems to have taken a toll on you all. I'm not saying to forget whatever it is, but you can relax here. We're safe." She gave him a reassuring smile.

Suzaku turned fully to her, "Believe me Ash, I want to tell you everything. But I can't, especially not now. Seeing how Shirley reacted today to some news I gave her... I can't."

Asher's eyes betrayed sadness but regardless she grinned, "Well I wont force you... but you really wont have a choice when I get my memories back", she said the last part teasingly.

"I suppose I can live with that compromise".

* * *

After school, Suzaku received a text that Lelouch had brought Shirley to the apartment so she wouldn't be alone. He was glad to know she wasn't by herself. He still felt awful for breaking the news to her and was trying to find different ways to justify it, but the look on her face could not be justified. He felt horrible.

Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Asher wanted to get smoothies before heading home, but Suzaku just wanted to get home so he could talk to Shirley for himself. So they split off when they were about ten minutes from the apartment.

"There's a new smoothie place that opened up near the train station! Let's go there!", Kairi said. The red head ran on ahead excitedly.

"Nope, not running. My legs are sleepy", Asher vigorously shook her head.

"Yeah well last one there has to buy the smoothies soooo I'd hurry up!" Riku chuckled as him and Sora took off after Kairi. Asher sighed but jogged after them.

"Do you guys have to make everything a competition- WOAH!" Asher stopped quick, almost running into the paused Riku and Sora. A line of Nobodies blocked their path.

"Let's get through these guys quick so we can catch up to Kairi", Sora grumbled and charged at them with his keyblade. Riku followed soon behind and Asher realized this would be the first time she's be using her scimitar outside of self defense class.

Regardless, she unsheathed it and charge at the Nobodies. They heard Kairi scream up ahead.

"Kairi!" Sora panicked, shoving past the Nobody he was engaged in combat with and sprinted up the hill.

"Asher go with him! I got these guys!" Riku yelled to her.

The petite girl slid past the Nobodies and dashed up the hill towards where Sora ran to.

She got to the top and saw Kairi unconscious. What the hell happened? Sora was fending off a group of five Heartless, so Asher dashed to join the fray. She was quickly becoming tired and her combat became messy. In a moment of weakness, a Heartless swiped her hard enough to send her flying into Sora and knocking the two over.

"Oooof! Dammit", Asher sat herself up just to see the Heartless mob swarm towards Kairi. Something glowing began to rise out of her chest.

Sora yelled, "Kairi no!" And launched himself at the swarm. Asher had never seen Sora move so fast before. She followed suit, albeit a bit slower.

They fended off the Heartless, wondering what they were doing to Kairi. Soon enough Riku joined them and the mob had been defeated and the glowing object descended back into Kairi's chest.

Without missing a beat, Sora ran to Kairi, frantically yelling her name. Her eyes opened as Sora knelt down next to her.

"Are you all right? I thought they got you", Sora helped her sit up.

"I feel fine now... Are the Heartless gone?", Kairi looked around.

"Yeah," Riku's hands were balled into fists.

"What was that heart-shaped thing floating out of her chest?", Asher wondered out loud.

"Heart?" Kairi looked bewildered. "Something was floating out of my chest? What the heck are you talking about?"

"I mean I guess that makes sense, they are called Heartless... So they go after people's hearts?" Sora frowned, then looked back at Kairi.

"I'm so glad you're safe Kairi", Sora helped her stand up.

"Well, thank you guys for protecting me" Kairi nodded appreciatively.

"Try to stick with Sora or I and not run off by yourself", Riku chided.

"Hey woah, I can protect her too!" Asher puffed her cheeks defiantly.

Riku merely responded by patting her head.

* * *

Elsewhere:

"So you're real name is Ienzo and my real name is Lea?" Axel raised an eyebrow at 'Zexion'. The two were down in the lab in Organization XIII's castle.

"Precisely! I'm going to tell you that once per day for two weeks to see if it triggers any memories. If not, we'll move onto the next thing", Ienzo nodded.

"And remember, while you may have to go on missions that involve Sora, remember those are solely a cover-up and to not _actually_ hurt him"

"Woah woah, I got it. I never really had the desire to hurt the kid, I was just following _chief's_ orders.", Axel was realizing now why he felt that way. Ienzo filled him in as well on how to get Roxas back without harming Sora, as well as how they would do it so he didn't get in Organization XIII's clutches.

Things were starting to make sense, but he still had no memory of any of it.

"Riku is the only one that has his memories intact. I need you to seek him out in the near future and fill him in on what's going on".

Axel scoffed, "The silver haired little punk? He'd attack me on sight!"

"Not if you go about it cautiously." Ienzo gave Axel a stern look.

Axel sighed, "Fine, fine".

Ienzo paused for a moment before lowering his voice, "So as you know, the Organization is targeting Sora and Kairi to resurrect Roxas and Xion to join "our" ranks in the Organization again. But do you know why exactly? It's because we're supposed to be waging a war against the light in this world. This is the event I was telling you about that happened a year or so ago. We were at war, but you and I were on the other side, the side with the light. Something went wrong- really, really wrong- and you lost your memory, as did Sora and Kairi. I retained mine, and faked my way back into the Organization. I can't tell you who, but a select few others are in the same boat as I am. Xemnas isn't even the one behind all this. In fact, there's someone higher up than him-" Ienzo stopped suddenly.

Both of them heard a door creak open and Saix stepped in, closing the door behind him.

Axel froze, wondering if he heard everything that Ienzo had just explained to him. He glanced at Ienzo, who was oddly calm.

Ienzo half smirked, "What brings you in here... _Isa_?"

* * *

"Okay but are we not going to talk about how her heart was literally floating out of her body?" Asher was out on the balcony with Sora. They had arrive back home shortly after the incident. Riku offered to cook tonight while Kairi rested on the couch.

The spikey haired boy frowned, "I've never been so terrified in my life... I didn't know what was happening to her."

Asher leaned against the wall next to the door, deep in thought. Did this have something to do with the Organization? After all, they were in lieu with the Heartless and Nobodies.

"It's made me consider what life would be like without her and that scares me to hell and back", Sora admitted.

Asher was about to agree when she noticed him shaking a little. "Sora?"

"I can't imagine a life without her. You all mean so much to me, my friends... you all mean so much", his ocean blue eyes sparked with passion.

Asher quirked a smile, "While I appreciate it, and feel the same, I'm sure some mean a little more to you than others", she said the last part with a tease.

Sora raised an eyebrow, "What does that even mean?"

"It means I've noticed how you look at Kairi. And how you talk to her like she's the most precious thing in the world. Honestly it's adorable", Asher giggled.

Sora blushed, "W-what? I treat her the same as I treat all of you!" He crossed his arms across his chest.

"Keep telling yourself that, Sora", Asher grinned. "But we all, at least Riku and I, can see you have a thing for Kairi"

Sora's mouth dropped a bit, "Is it that obvious?"

"Not enough that she has noticed, I'll tell you that".

Sora turned away from Asher, glancing inside the balcony door. Kairi was napping on the couch, resting up from her ordeal earlier. _I can't lose her. I can't lose any of them. If Kairi was gone..._

He felt his chest tighten briefly. Of course he had developed feelings for Kairi. Riku was his best friend, but Kairi was his partner in crime. She went along with his pranking and shenanigans, but was also there for him when things got serious. Recently he had a hard time keeping eye contact with her nearly violet blue eyes without blushing.

He was falling for her without a doubt.

Turning back to Asher he said, "Well... it's not like I'm the only one that has been developing feelings for people."

Asher raised an eyebrow, "Uh well duh, that happens to people all the time-"

"I'm talking about you dummy"

Asher stood up straight at that, arms folding tightly in front of her chest, "Me?! You're kidding. I have enough of myself to worry about to go developing feelings for someone else".

Sora grinned teasingly, "Yup. Okay, Asher. Keep telling yourself that. But I see it. Kairi told me she sees it, actually she's the one that brought it up to me"

Asher puffed her cheeks in frustration, "She never approached me about this!" She leaned over to steal a glance at the napping red-head in the living room.

 _You..._

"Well I know Kai would be more than happy to talk to you about it when you 'figure it out'." Sora snickered, heading back into the house and shutting the porch door behind him.

Asher was left on the balcony with the sunset, dumbfounded. Their apartment had a pretty good view of town, and it was especially beautiful at twilight, hence the name. She leaned on the railing, admiring the view of town they had. The best view of town was from the clock tower in the distance.

 _I don't think I have any extra special feelings towards anyone. All my friends mean the world to me, so I think Sora is just trying to start trouble. Still, I'll ask Kairi about what she has said to Sora._

Speaking of falling for people, she hoped Shirley was doing better. She had left shortly after Asher had arrived home, having seemed to be more stable at that point.

The poor girl seemed heartbroken and frightened, but she hoped this didn't push her away from Lelouch. Asher had watched him walk her to the door earlier and she seemed more relaxed with him. All Asher could do at this point was hope everything worked out between them.

She agreed with Sora's sentiment, her friends meant the world to her. Especially being amnesiac, she had no idea what she would do if she didn't have them in her life.

She heard a low hum and looked around. Where was that coming from?

Her legs felt wobbly, so she propped herself against the wall and sat.

"What the hell?" Asher's vision faded to black but she knew she was still conscious.

Suddenly she saw a view of not Twilight Town, but of a house and a garden. She heard laughter and a young girl ran by her.

"Who are you?" Asher called out to her. It appeared the girl could not hear her. Where was she?

From behind ran two other children, running after the girl. The girl turned around, causing Asher to gasp. She looked exactly like herself, but younger. The two children turned to look at what the young girl was looking at, revealing their faces to look exactly like Lelouch and Suzaku.

The young girl was pointing in her direction, though Asher knew she couldn't see her.

"Suzaku, Lelouch, look! The sunset is so pretty!" the young girl skipped a little.

Asher looked to where she was pointing. Turns out the house was atop an elevated grassland, with a forest and mountain in the distance. Where were they?

"It is pretty! You know there's a reason they call my nation the land of the rising sun!" Asher heard one of the boys say behind her.

"But it's setting, Suzaku", she heard the other boy point out.

"Eheh, whatever!" Suzaku let out a small nervous laugh.

"Well, come on Asher, we don't want to keep Nunally waiting for dinner!" Lelouch said.

Asher turned to see the girl nod, "Yes! I hope Nuna is feeling better!"

Asher watched the three children walk into the house.

 _Is that girl me?_

The world shifted, and Asher closed her eyes as an attempt to quell her dizziness. When she opened them, she noticed the setting she was in was different. Turning to look at her surroundings, Asher saw herself (and this time, she was sure this was herself) leaning against a wall of a school building. In fact, the girl looked not much younger than her, maybe 16?

She pulled out her phone, sighing. Asher spotted a statue nearby that had the words engraved "Ashford Academy" on it.

"Where are Lelouch and Suzaku?!" Asher heard the girl exclaim.

In the distance Asher saw both Lelouch and Suzaku run up to her from inside the school building.

Lelouch, out of breath, followed behind Suzaku.

"Where were you guys?!" the girl turned and huffed.

"Sorry, Ash, we got caught up with the student council president... again", Suzaku scratched the back of his neck.

Asher watched herself shake her head and cross her arms, "Dammit Millay... What did she rope you two into this time?"

"Nothing!" Lelouch said a little too quickly.

Other Asher narrowed her eyes and looked between the two of them, "Hm... Well, I'll find out soon enough wont I?"

The world faded again and Asher saw flashes of various (what she assumed) memories with Lelouch and Suzaku. No one else was ever in these memories and they all were normal school life or childhood memories.

Asher felt something snap and she sat upright. She was still on the balcony of their Twilight Town apartment. She hadn't realized that tears had begun to form and had spilled down her cheeks. The cerulean eyed girl was overwhelmed with emotion.

She finally remembered something about her life before.

* * *

Suzaku and Lelouch had been in the kitchen when Asher came sprinting in, nearly crashing into Suzaku, who was closest to the door.

"Everything okay?" Lelouch gave her a concerned look.

Asher looked between the two boys. "You said that we have been friends since childhood? And that we went to school together in high school?"

"Yes, that is true. Why?", Lelouch asked.

"Was that high school by chance called Ashford Academy?", Asher's heart was racing.

Suzaku nearly dropped his cup of water.

"Because I," Asher continued, "I was on the balcony and went into this weird trance-like state and I... think I just remembered you guys. I remember being friends as children and I have memories of us all hanging out in high school together."

"Seriously?", Suzaku had a huge grin on his face. "I'm so happy for you Asher!"

"Congratulations," even Lelouch was smiling.

"So... how much do you remember exactly?", Suzaku asked, a little hesitant. Judging by her reaction she hadn't remembered any of the bad stuff (the war and such). Or... other things.

"Mmmm just the fact that we were friends and we always seemed to have a good time together", Asher tapped her chin. "We were in the student council together weren't we? Seems like we always had a good time around school!"

Lelouch glanced at Suzaku, but Suzaku didn't look at him, as his full attention was on Asher.

"You didn't remember anything weird or off-putting right? Or anything else about us?" Suzaku fidgeted slightly.

"Nope! Is there stuff I'm forgetting about you guys that I should know?", Asher cocked her head slightly.

"No, don't worry about it", Suzaku gave her a reassuring smile, feeling Lelouch's stare on the back of his head.

 _Will you stop that?_

"I'm so glad you got some memories back", Lelouch turned his attention back to Asher. "Now I assume you believe us when we say we did in fact know you before?"

"Yes," Asher felt her eyes stinging again but wiped them, "I'm so relieved. I'm so happy to have a part of my identity now! I'm going to tell Kairi and the others! Oooh maybe celebratory pizza and tequila," Asher skipped out of the kitchen like a schoolgirl.

"I'm so happy that she remembers us. It'll certainly make things easier to help her gain her memories back AND it proves that she can remember things from before! It's even more of a relief that she hasn't changed," Suzaku leaned back on the counter, still smiling from earlier.

"Suzaku... it seems like she only remembers the positive memories she had with us. And she doesn't remember the war. But I saw you trying to get it out of her. I see your self-destructive tendencies are still prominent", Lelouch frowned, genuinely concerned for Suzaku.

Suzaku's smile faltered, "I'm really trying, and not because of your Geass, to live. I'm trying to get away from all that but it is not as easy as a good night's sleep. I can't forget and I wont forget."

"Why not accept that you have now? You're allowed to be happy," Lelouch shrugged.

Suzaku's smile reappeared, "Thanks, Lelouch"


End file.
